Turn Back Time
by electricsymphony
Summary: He knew there was no hope. How was he supposed to go on when his friends were everything? He couldn't. He wouldn't. He'd missed the goal and hit the posts last time; not again. If Fate was life's goalie, he was going to mess with him a bit. D/Hr, H/G, R/M
1. Turn Back Time

Prologue: Turn Back Time

_

* * *

This war,_ Harry thought bitterly, _is every bit a circle of time. _He stepped up to the higher ground, glanced back at his friends behind him and let out a barely audible sigh. Hermione looked on with a feeling of apprehension toward the house in front of them, they all did. Ron looked sully depressed, but determined in the same aspect. They were on either side of Harry, both of them with their wands out, scanning the area with more than a few skeptical looks. This was Riddle Manor, the most ancient and dangerous of their battle sites so far. Ron looked thunderstruck, immune to speaking and Hermione was in her own world of misery and determination. Harry was all by himself, pondering the situation, staring at the place that Lord Voldemort had killed his father; the place that had marked the path for a ruthless killer. The place where it all began, and hopefully would all end as well. 

He sucked in a breath, as if he was being deprived of the air humans are so dependant on. His breaths were steady, inhaling sharply, and exhaling loudly, almost as if it were a code to live by. There was no room for worry, it would no longer be necessary to worry what happened at the Final Battle, because this was the Final Battle. There were no more suggestions or training. There was nothing. All that remained was an empty front yard and a Muggle Manor the size of two American Football fields. As if on cue, they all looked at each other and their worlds merged with their companions.

"Shall we?" Harry asked in an attempt at dry humor. He knew that neither of them would find this funny in this situation, but it made him feel slightly better and that counted for something. He looked up again, his scar searing with pain but he was still determined. Standing in the doorway of Riddle Manor was the one man he had come to defeat.

"It has been so long since we last met, Potter. Where did you learn your manners?" Voldemort taunted, boring his lifeless eyes into Harry's emerald green reflected ones with a sense of passionate hate. "Right… I did send you to the muggles after all… pitiful creatures, aren't they?" Harry could feel the atmosphere change at that moment and the stiffness of Hermione's posture as Voldemort made the jeer toward muggles. Voldemort smirked cruelly when he realized this, and turned his attention to the nineteen year old young woman next to Harry. "I see I struck quite a nerve there, didn't I Miss Granger? Many have perceived you to be the smartest muggle born of your age and many ages before you…" he whispered, so quietly that Harry didn't even know if Hermione could hear him, "Can't be that hard, can it, considering your competition?" Harry clenched his fists and his right hand was firmly gripping his wand, ready for the spell he knew was coming.

Had Hermione not been so in control of her emotions at that point, he thought that she might have tried to curse him. He knew she had more sense than that, though, and he dug his fingernails so deep into his palms that a squirt of blood came out. It didn't matter; it went right with the stains of blood that seeped through his shirt. There was no prolonging this, this was it. He knew everyone here knew this was it too. Even Voldemort now had his wand placed firmly on his side, and he waved it into the air with an effortless flick. As soon as this happened, at least half a hundred Death Eaters followed from the Riddle House, all draped in black velvet cloaks with masks hiding their identities.

As if a reaction, a huge violent sound of popping filled Harry's ears. Thirty to fifty Order Members were now surrounding the Death Eaters, both sides looking particularly equal. The absence of their leader, Albus Dumbledore, made Voldemort smile wickedly. It was pitch black now, the only light coming from the moon and the lit lamps in Riddle Manor. No one spoke for a good moment or so before an unidentified female voice from the Order Side cast the first spell,

"Pateseco!"

That is how the Final Battle began.

* * *

Lucius Malfoy and Ron Weasley

* * *

"Good afternoon, Mr. Weasley, is there anything I can help you with?" 

Ron scowled with the instant reminder that this was the sole man that had made his Father's Ministry life hell for the past decades. Lucius Malfoy attempted a laugh but before he could, Ron's wand did the talking for him as he caught Malfoy off guard. Lucius responded with a quick change of pace and while smirking lightly, "Cae--"

"PROTEGO!"

The effect was immediate and effective. Lucius Malfoy was blown several feet from the ground and landed disheveled on the floor, hair sticking up in ways that would have made Harry proud. Ron smirked with a glimmer in his eye, but not before he took his wand back out and made damn sure that Malfoy was in no shape to get back up. There was no glint in his eyes anymore when Malfoy got back up and grabbed for his wand. "Expelliarmus!" The wand flew from Malfoy's grasp and into Ron's bleeding hand as he harbored a triumphant last look. Malfoy, however, looked unaffected. He couldn't possibly… could he?

"Caedo--"

"Macero!" Well, that certainty answered that question. So, Lucius Malfoy was skilled in the art of wandless magic and to be blunt, Ronald Weasley was, as nicely put, screwed. Mainly because Lucius was only using the Dark Magic version of the Killing Curse, a slower and more dangerous death, causing much more pain and torture than the Avada Kedavra Curse: Caedo Lente. Ron took a sharp intake of breath before he let it all out, passing a nearby Death Eater and Tonks battling.

The effect of the weakening spell was instantaneous. Lucius dropped to the ground, howling in pain. He gritted his teeth to let the scream pass, but it only made it worse. Ron smirked for a moment or two, but the effect of surprise is a man's worst weakness. Admiring your surprise successes can be harmful, so when Walden McNair stumbled upon the scene, there was no way that Ron could have proven ready. He was taken out by,

"Caedo Lente!"

It felt as though thousands of knives were entering his body. He howled with Lucius for a mere minute before dropping to the ground in a slump. McNair was already leaving his crisp fallen body on the ground and he was dead too fast to hear someone yell,

"Pungo cruor!"

* * *

Narcissa Black-Malfoy and Hermione Granger

* * *

"My son has a dearest… can I call it an obsession with you, Ms. Granger," Narcissa smirked with a pleased glee as she circled the muggleborn girl and smiled with much pleasure. It was a sickly sweet smile that reminded Hermione of a bitter piece of candy. Even the thought of any sweet made her think of her parents. _No, _she reminded herself, _I will NOT think about them._ Her parents had died only a few months ago and she couldn't allow herself to think about it again. No, it would be her weakness. She wouldn't let anything be her weakness at this point. She knew that she had to stop thinking about it, for now. 

Narcissa, however, realized her weakness. "Your parents… what is it they do? Dentists… aren't they? Cleaning muggles teeth as a job, what a disgusting thing to do… simply pitiful," she mocked, and spat every word out to her as if she were talking about some species that didn't deserve her mention. Hermione's teeth clenched together so hard she thought she might have broken a few of them, "It's too bad there dead, isn't it? Did you love your pitiful muggle parents, girl? Did you?"

Hermione's hand flew to her wand and before she could react to what she was doing, she shot out the most hurtful curse she could think of without actually killing the woman, "Vulruor!" The effect of the curse took a moment before it came into its full element. Narcissa sank to the floor, blood gushing from a wound in her stomach. Hermione could have almost sworn on her life that Narcissa was laughing as she tried to hold in the pain.

"I remember when I was your age… so young, and yet, so angry. You are angry at me aren't you, Hermione?" At the mention of her name, she stiffened with intensity. She felt as though breathing couldn't be achieved, at least not at this point. She wouldn't let the woman who had just insulted the memory of her parents get away with saying her name… she wouldn't. She, however, kept silent as Narcissa kept talking. "I know you want to kill me. I know you do. Do it. Come on, kill me." Her wand dropped to the ground and she looked up at Hermione with a pleading expression. "Kill me, you damn mudblood!"

"I--" she stated. Staring down at the wretched witch, it reminded Hermione of her mother, howling in pain as the Death Eater killed her. "I can't--" she muttered, but she knew she had to. She raised her arm, pointed her wand at Narcissa, and forced herself to look away.

"Yes you can! Think about it, you damned girl! I just insulted your parents! Think of it… you hate Draco Malfoy." This one really stung. It was very clear that Narcissa hadn't a clue what her relationship with Draco was. That's why it was even harder to kill his mother. "Kill his mother and just get it over with--"

Hermione wanted her death to be painless. She couldn't force this woman to live through the pain her parents had.

"Kill me! Don't make me do it myself, you useless girl."

Hermione picked up her wand; just barely able to get over the pain she felt and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!"

There, limp and still, dead in an instant from the curse only her best friend had been known to survive, was Draco Malfoy's mother, the woman who had pleaded Hermione to kill her. She whipped around immediately upon hearing footsteps. She dodged away from one of Bellatrix's curses, but Bellatrix was quicker with her curses then Hermione had thought. The moment after one shot had been fired, another followed it. She collapsed with a blood splitting spell and clutched her side. Bellatrix watched with immense pleasure. Hermione was able to hold onto life long enough to see Neville sneaking up on Bellatrix and shouting the killing curse.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Bellatrix wasn't fast enough. In the moments before her death, Hermione felt proud of Neville that he finally defeated the woman who had caused such hardship in his life. The last thing Hermione heard was Neville calling her name from a vast distance.

* * *

Rodoluphus Lestrange and Draco Malfoy

* * *

"Draco…" a voice hissed from the shadows. Draco turned around immediately, pointing his wand in the direction of the attacker. Standing there was his Uncle Rodoluphus in his hood staring down at a body lying limp on the ground. Upon realizing who it was, Draco jumped back in horror. There was a hint of pressure in his eyes, and his grey eyes filled with water as he stared into the lifeless eyes of Hermione Granger. He stood up, knees shaking and hands trembling. "You killed her…" A chorus of hard emotion hit him with sheer pain and agony as he saw her on the ground, eyes of chocolate brown staring up at him, and he turned around with bated breath, his head pounding. 

"No, Draco, Bellatrix did. Unfortunately, she herself did not make it. Ah, the price we pay."

Draco didn't respond. He was staring at Hermione; his face dripping with blood and grass stained with the blood of those who hadn't survived the battle. It was the end now, moments before this encounter Harry Potter had defeated the Dark Lord. The Ministry was to arrive at any moment, and they had fought a battle in which no one had won. They were in a stalemate… for another Dark Wizard was sure to gain strength and popularity just as Voldemort had… That, Draco knew, was not to be taken lightly. Something horrible was coming, something much worse than this. He couldn't wrap his mind around the concept however; as he was staring at the one girl he had ever loved, if he had ever known what love meant.

"She's just a useless, ugly muggle-born know it all, Draco."

Draco clenched his fists and spat in a rage, "Useless? You want me to take about useless, Uncle? I'll tell you who is useless. First, Voldemort is useless, for his ideals and motivations for killing innocent people were just a fear that he himself would lose… he is a cowardly phony, which makes him not only a useless wizard and a pathetic excuse for a human but a hypocrite as well, being a half-blood himself… Want to know who else is useless? You, my dear Uncle, and your pathetic wife who gave her life to kill and torture; you follow blindly in his path and have never looked back. You spent years in Azkaban, simply waiting for the chance to show your Lord how faithful you were to him… dying in a way for him… did he ever give you recognition? A day of praise perhaps; a week of no torture; then it was over. You are a sick puppy dog in the eyes of him, and a leech that no one wants to have around--"

"Is this how you treat family, Draco?"

"Don't give me that, Rodoluphus. You are not part of my family, nor am I of yours. Blood means nothing in a time like this, and you have brother slaughtering brother out here… and I'm afraid there may be another case of it before the night ends. Ugly? Really, are we talking about Hermione or your precious wife? For if you are talking about Hermione, you must be blind…" he remarked, looking down at her with a final smile and pulled himself back up to face his Uncle, finding it harder to breathe every time he went for air. "She is the most beautiful person I have ever encountered…Bellatrix, on the other hand, don't compare to her… not in the least." He took a pause to see his Uncle's angry-twisted face and reacted with a simple smirk. "Muggle-born? Well, I can't exactly deny that, Uncle," he said, and Rodoluphus looked positively thrilled, "But I will tell you that she is a more capable witch then Bellatrix and all the other female Death Eaters combined…" he added, watching his Uncle's face turn into fury, "As for being a know-it-all, since when was that a bad thing? Sorry, but I can see no problem in knowing more than you, something she obviously knew a lot about. Now Uncle, I will not hesitate to kill you right now, because you were a part of what harmed her. You mean nothing to me as you are, simply, another Death Eater that touched her. Anyone that touches her messes with me, understand?"

"How long have you been in love with the enemy, Draco?"

"Doesn't matter; Caedo Lente!"

Within a minute, he died, and Draco fell to the grass, holding Hermione in his arms, letting tears of silver fill his eyes.

* * *

Harry looked around and saw what he was looking for. A grin formed that was the size of ten bludgers each stacked on top of the other to make a huge, collapsing tower of Qudditch balls. Harry felt his blood boil and his jaw clench and a visible anger searing through his heart ripped through his chest. The veins in his hands were so blue and visible at that point that he thought they might burst open and spray blue blood everywhere. If there was anyway to break them, he would have done it in an attempt to calm himself in front of the wizard. When the snake-faced man realized this, his smirk turned larger with every passing moment they stood there. His bleeding right hand and eye twitching made him more susceptible to Voldemort's clear taunts and jeers. 

"Cheers, Mr. Potter," he muttered, glancing down at the black-haired boy for a moment, clearing his throat and pressing the subject so it made Harry twitch angrily. "Have you had a nice stay at my –fathers—house?" Harry could feel the amount of venom coming from the hissed word –father—that Voldemort seemed to dislike so much. He spoke as if it were a curse word or someone would strike him down if it was used in an affectionate manner. A chorus of things entered Harry's mind and he could feel the very presence of the man behind him, a sorrowful and yet so blatantly corrupt presence that was evil in its most pronounced form. His only dire wish was that his companions had made it out alive, but this wish was looking as though it had a slim chance of becoming true. Harry's jaw was hurting him the most, which was odd because it was the only part of him that wasn't oozing blood from a wound.

A feeling of skepticism cursed through his veins again and only then, for once, did the villain look at him, straight in the eye with a hazed expression of such hatred that Harry didn't know how to react to it, "Can I help you with something, Mr. Potter?"

"Doubt it," he replied icily, never taking his eyes off him. Every once in a while, Harry would feel the courage to do something he wouldn't normally ever do, and now of course, was one of those very rare times that he took himself out of his comfort zone. The unspoken animosity between the two men was an outright failure to agree on any aspects of life. See, Tom Marvolo Riddle grew up to be the most feared wizard in Britain and Harry Potter was the savior, and that was the way it would always be.

"I have no patience Harry, why don't we finish this?"

The boy nodded, but in a brief moment, the wand in his hand decided to go icily down back to his shirt pocket. The air was crisp now, in a soothing sort of way, not the best weather for an attack. An attack was supposed to be antagonizing, excruciating and painful, but the weather predicted otherwise. The two men stood in a rectangular pathway and neither spoke for the longest time. "Eighteen years ago, Potter, is when I first heard the prophecy predicting my doom."

"Did you?" Harry asked, trying his best to sound unconcerned. He was doing a terrible job however because at that moment, a sharp seering pain shot through his head and he couldn't breathe. "Congratulations then, Tom. You've finally figured it out then, have you?" He asked, a smirk forming on his lips. "Kill me then, Tom. Just go ahead and kill me. Let's get it over with."

"Gladly, Potter." Tom bowed his head and waited for Harry to do the same. He forced Harry's head down with a simple flick of his wand and in seconds the curses were flying. Red and green lights emitted from Harry and Voldemort's wands respectively and neither of them spoke. A cutting hex forced itself into Harry's leg, making him wince with pain. Harry shot a weakening spell but it missed the target. He barely escaped a Killing Curse sent his way but was not lucky enough to escape the Crucio only moments after. He withered in pain but had enough air in him to raise his wand at the laughing Voldemort and yell,

"Protego!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The two spells hit each other with a beam of light. It surrounded them and Harry was blinded by it, unable to see. Taking a chance now and using the light to his advantage, he closed his eyes and focused all the power he could muster and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" It all came rushing back to him. Memories of hunting down the horcruxes were speeding threw his mind and his life was flashing before him in slow motion. He saw an overview of his life in backwards motion until he was back at the Dursleys, a small, naive child. Was he dying? Abruptly, it changed.

He was now watching a memory that was not his own. There was a small group of boys in front of an old orphanage jeering at a smaller, ebony-haired young boy who was whimpering and backing away from the others. "Scared are you, Tommy?" One of them asked, grinning maliciously. "Look at this, guys, the freak is 'scared' of us. Come on, I thought you weren't afraid of anything, Tommy!" He could see the hot tears rolling down the younger boy's face. Harry suddenly felt a huge pang of guilt. He knew whose memory this was, and he had just attempted to kill him. "Look, he's crying!" One of the boys taunted. They ran away laughing and Tom was sitting alone.

"Riddle!" Someone yelled. Tom looked up to see an older woman coming towards him. "Why aren't you in the dining hall?"

"Mrs. Cole, the older boys were teasing me! They called me a freak."

Mrs. Cole only laughed in response. "I'm sure they did, Tom. Now, go get some dinner."

Harry had a huge lump in his throat. This scenario sounded like something that could have happened to him, changing the boys to Dudley and his gang and Tom to him. He knew they had both had horrible childhoods, but the similarity was uncanny. Feeling worse than he had before, he didn't have time to register this because he heard a scream. He watched as the light dissolved and it revealed Voldemort, on his knees, screaming.

Before he knew what was going on, he had passed out.

* * *

"Harry? Harry, are you awake?" 

"Remus?" Harry asked, his voice shaky. He steadily got up off the floor and wiped the dirt off him. He felt dizzy and tried to lie back down again. "You're alive," he smiled. Remus smiled and nodded and propped his head up against a rock. He looked around and widened his eyes. "Voldemort…" he muttered. "What happened?"

"He died, Harry," Remus responded, grinning, "You defeated him."

Harry looked down, depressed. He knew that he should feel proud, but he felt dirty. "I murdered a man, Remus." There was a pause. "He might not have been the best man or even a real human, but he was a man. He didn't deserve to be killed, Remus." He let tears roll down his cheeks. "He had the same childhood as I did, Remus. He was bullied into thinking he was worthless, and I killed him. It wasn't his fault he was a psychopath." He let the tears run freely now as he tried to find some condolence in what happened.

"You couldn't have helped him either, Harry. I think you did him a favor, really. Maybe he'll realize the destruction he's done now that he's dead." There was another awkward pause now. "I--" Remus muttered, looking towards the ground.

"Can you tell me who survived, Remus?" Harry asked with a wary look. "Please…"

"Other than myself…" he said, thinking about what he was about to say, "Charlie and Fred Weasley, Mad-Eye, Molly Weasley, Tonks, Emmeline Vance and Neville. Neville did survive but he is pretty beaten up and was carted back to Hogwarts immediately. Charlie and Fred are still here but Fred is really beat up so Charlie has taken to staying with him. Fred swore he saw Draco Malfoy wandering around these parts an hour ago," Remus said, breathing heavily.

Harry couldn't see because the tears were blocking his vision. Ron… Hermione… Ginny. It was all coming to him now. They were all dead. He widened his eyes in surprise at the knowledge of Draco, but the more he thought about Malfoy the more he thought about Hermione. Then he just broke down and did all the crying he had been holding inside. Remus held him as he cried and kept whispering, "I'm sorry, Harry" over and over again. "Harry?" He asked. "There is a way… to fix all of this."

"How, Remus?" He asked, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"It's called the 'Tempus' charm, and it's a very complicated charm that deals with time. Harry, this may be your last hope. The world isn't safe anymore, and we all know it. There will be another Dark Lord and we will all come crumbling down. We need to start again where it all started. You need to go back in time to before you went to Hogwarts… change it all. You have to be ready for what's coming, we all do. When it comes, I want you to be ready."

"I'll go Remus," he answered, standing up, "But I won't go without you."

Remus was perplexed, but nodded. "Are you ready?" He asked, grinning slightly but still anxious.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he answered.

They both looked at each other. This was it. He looked around the battlefield and noticed all the dead bodies spread across the land. He grimaced as he saw all the dead bodies, but he knew he could change that. He knew that he could change these people's deaths. Just knowing he had that power gave him a small shred of hope. He needed to do this. There was no going back.

"Tempus!" As soon as the world began to spin, he became so entranced with the spinning he never noticed the presence of a hand on his shoulder. If he had, he would have figured it was Remus but if he had thought that, he would be very wrong. At that point in history, three people who were supposed to be there had ended up somewhere else entirely.

And that was that.

* * *

A/N: Third times a charm, isn't it? This happens to be the third time that I botched this one up, but this is the last. Please comment. I put a lot of work into this one. 

S.S.M.

Seriously Sirius Marauder


	2. May Sound Crazy

**Chapter Two: Divine Right**

***

Beneath the second floor of the Dursleys home, right underneath the parent's room, a young boy was waking up in his room for the first time in many months. His eyes darted around the room with a horrified expression. His eyes grew larger and his mouth hung open, but he managed to grasp hold of the pipe next to the bed before he fell back on it. He placed one dirty sock on to the grimy floor and he then peeled another off his bed only seconds later. He kept his bare feet wrapped up in the small blanket on the bed. A lone piece of cloth hung across the headboard of the small cot and he grimaced, swinging his legs around the side, hitting them against the wall. "This is either a very vivid dream, or Remus is a genius." His voice sounded much smaller and squeakier than he remembered, but it didn't faze him.

"Boy; you have to come and make breakfast!" The very voice of his aunt made his stomach clench and his teeth tighten. He was back, that was for sure. The antagonistic voice of his Aunt still rang in his ears, scolding him—judging him. For years, he had dreamt of a way out. He had devised plans to sneak out of the Dursley's many times, but he never attempted to use them. He dreaded every morning he would wake up, and every night when he went to sleep. He wasn't sure which part of his day he hated the most. Early morning, perhaps, when he would wake up and fold all the laundry before proceeding downstairs to cook breakfast for everyone except himself. His school day, maybe, where he would endure taunts and jeers while struggling to find any energy to put pencil to paper. He decided that his afternoons were the worst, when Uncle Vernon would set him tedious busy-work tasks that were designed simply to keep him from accomplishing any school work.

Therefore, given all the above-mentioned horrible parts of his childhood, he promised himself he would never willingly set foot on the Dursley's perfectly cut grass again. Yet, here he was, lying in his four-sizes-too-small cot in the middle of a bug-infested cupboard.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

He made absolute sure to let her notice the fear in his voice. He'd become quite the actor in the last eight years and was very well-accustomed to giving in to Aunt Petunia's outrageous demands with nothing but a polite smile. He wasn't quite sure, now that he thought about it, what was important enough to change. Was it worth changing anything this early on? Was there anything that he wanted to change about his living situation with the Dursleys? Plus, if he did change something, how would it affect the more important things?

He decided, finally, he would simply play it by ear. He knew he trusted his own instincts and that perhaps he might be able to convince the Dursleys that nothing was out of the ordinary. He picket up his three-sizes-too-large trousers and Dudley's old blue, stained oversized shirt and slipped them on. He forgot how horrible Dudley's clothes had smelled over the years, and it was just now coming back to him. He opened the latch on the door and pushed forward. His entrance into the kitchen was barely noticed by anyone.

"We all knew you had it in you, son. I knew it all along, didn't I Petunia?" Vernon asked, his mustache glowing in the kitchen lights.

"We all did, Vernon. Marge has sent you her congratulations in the mail, Dudders. Oh, I'm so proud. On your birthday, of all days," Petunia gushed, clinging on to her son as if she were scared to let him go. Harry sighed, turned towards the stove, and began to cook the bacon. He wondered why Dudley had gotten his invitation to Smeltings early. As far as he knew, Dudley hadn't received the invitation for at least another few weeks. "You know that Warner Academy is supposed to be one of the most prestigious boarding schools in all of England."

Harry almost stopped breathing. _Warner Academy?_ Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Dudley had never gone there, but Harry had heard that name before. Where on earth had he heard that name? When Vernon saw the look on Harry's face he grunted with an unpleasant smile.

"Hear that, boy?" Vernon asked, stroking his mustache. "Dudley is going to Warner Academy—whereas you will be spending the next seven years at Stonewall Secondary." He spit out the name _'Stonewall Secondary'_ as if it were a curse word. To him, it was. Stonewall was known for less than adequate teachers and severe and out-of-date punishments. Warner was known for its brilliant students, outstanding testing scores and incredibly efficient disciplinary programs. Harry jumped out of his skin when he realized where he had heard that school before.

"Hermione…" Harry whispered.

"What are you muttering about, boy?" Uncle Vernon asked, turning around so fast Harry's forehead throbbed with pain. He couldn't answer his Uncle—he could barely inhale at all. Hermione had once told him that she had been accepted to Warner Academy three weeks before she got her Hogwarts Letter. She said that she and her parents had gone to an Open House there—she described it as very impressive, but also incredibly expensive and full of arrogant rich children. Harry smirked as he looked at Dudley; it sounded like the perfect place for him. Expect for the fact that the Dursley's were by no means rich. Harry had to stop himself from asking how they would be paying for it.

Uncle Vernon had decided that it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to figure out why Harry had begun to mutter to himself. He simply carried on reading the newspaper as Aunt Petunia stroked Dudley's hair. "You're going to be wonderful at your new school, Dudley. Speaking of which," she said, as she turned to face Vernon, "What are we going to do about… the boy?"

Harry hated when they talked about him as though he wasn't there. However, for now he was simply more curious as to what they were talking about. Vernon looked over at him, curled his lip in distaste, and turned back to Aunt Petunia. "What about Figg? She can't handle him?" He asked, as he gulped down his breakfast in a similar fashion as Dudley.

"No," Aunt Petunia replied as she stood up and made her way to the stove, "She's gone to London this weekend to visit her son."

Vernon paused. "Didn't know she had family," he said, wiping the ends of his mustache with his napkin. "Well, what about one your friends?"

Aunt Petunia brushed past Harry barely noticing he was there. "Which one my friends would you force to take the troublemaker?" Aunt Petunia asked, this time her voice lower and more dangerous than it was before. Vernon didn't appear to care that she was angry, or he was too thick to notice. As soon as Aunt Petunia had spoken, she realized the harsh tone of her voice, and sat down in her chair, as though to show Vernon she was still obedient to him. Again, Vernon didn't appear to have any reaction to this. Harry smirked, and sank a little lower behind the counter so he could listen without being yelled at.

"Well, we certainly can't take him to the Open House, Petunia. We'll just have to leave him here, then."

"Leave him with all of Dudley's expensive toys, Vernon? He would wreck the place a minute after we left," she concluded, now having resumed stroking Dudley's hair. "No… we'll have to find him a place to go. If we take him to the Open House at Warner who knows what will happen."

Aunt Petunia continued to berate Harry but he wasn't listening. They were going to the Open House at Warner and were deciding what to do with him. In an instant, he decided he had to go. It was foolish, immature and could cause danger but he wasn't thinking like he should. The only thing running through his mind was that he could see Hermione again. If Hermione was alive, then Ron was alive, and if Ron was alive… Ginny was alive. He could wish for nothing more than to see all of them again, to make sure no harm ever came their way. Suddenly, he knew how he could go.

"Please, Uncle Vernon, don't make me go to the Open House. I promise if I stay here I won't break a thing. But honestly, don't make me go! It'll be absolutely horrible, and I just wouldn't be able to stand it. All the more—all the more privileged kids would make fun of me, and…" he broke off, tears in his eyes. He had to try harder than he ever had not to laugh at his Uncle's face. His Uncle was grinning from ear to ear.

"There you go, Petunia," he said, practically bouncing from enjoyment. "We'll make Potter come with us so he can see how proper boys behave." Vernon was positively ecstatic at the prospect of humiliating his young nephew. "Go back to your cupboard, Potter," he instructed, as he shoved past him.

Harry smiled as he walked back to his cupboard. That was too easy.

***

**July 17****th****, 1991** *

Forty-three hours and fifteen minutes later they were all piled into Vernon's company car as they drove to the Academy. Harry wasn't used to driving this long of a distance, as he had never spent a long time in a car. All throughout his childhood with the Dursleys the longest he'd ever stayed in a car was fifteen minutes to the school or twenty minutes to Vernon's Drill Company Offices. The only time he'd ever been in a car in the magical world was in 2nd year with Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia, but even that was only a ten minute drive. Harry suspected that there had to be some magic involved there, but he didn't press the subject.

The ride to the Academy was nearing on two hours, and Harry was beginning to wish he hadn't outsmarted his Uncle into letting him come. Warner Academy was in Bristol, named from some important politician in Wales, Frederick J. Warner. ** He noted Bristol's close proximity to Wales and the capitol city, Cardiff. They were fifteen minutes outside of the Academy now, and Harry was starting to feel it in his gut. His heart was pounding. He wasn't ready for this. He knew he wasn't ready for this.

"Are you ready, Dudley?" Aunt Petunia asked, as she smoothed down his tie and combed his hair. "I want everything to be perfect for my Dudley's special day."

"Yes, mum," he answered, and slapped her hand away. "And I'm not your little boy anymore."

"I know," Petunia said, wiping tears from her eyes. "You're my little man." Harry wanted to throw up.

"Now what I want to know," Vernon asked, pulling his coat on, "Is where we find this Headmaster Jameson fellow." Harry shivered as he wished not for the first time that he could conjure himself a sweater. It was breezy, and he was wearing close to nothing. He was wearing one of Dudley's oversized trousers and a shirt that was so loose it felt as though he wasn't wearing anything at all. There was a thermometer attached to a wall on the corner of one of the buildings and Harry read out of the corner of his eye 16 C (approximately 60 F). It was 15 C back in Little Whinging, so honestly… what was he complaining about? ***

"We'll find it Vernon," Petunia said, as she began to walk. All three of the Dursleys began to walk towards the large, impressive series of buildings, not one of them turning around to notice if Harry was coming or not. He simply sighed and followed them. They walked for nearly ten minutes, and Harry glanced at everyone who passed hoping to get even the slightest hint of Hermione's presence. After all, he was still half convinced this was a cruel and extensive yet effective Death Eater trick.

"Ah, you must Vernon."

"Yes, sir, and this here is Dudley."

Harry observed the scene with this—Headmaster Jameson—and made a few assumptions. Number One, this man had been doing this job for quite some time. He seemed excited at the prospect of meeting Dudley so he wasn't that bright—assumption #2—and he wasn't married. (Clue #1 was the way smiled as he looked Aunt Petunia up and down as though evaluating her, and Clue #2 was the absence of a ring on his finger)

As though he had been expecting it, his ears perked at the sound of an all-too familiar voice. He looked up, and standing not even twenty feet away was Hermione and her parents. He felt the tiny hairs on his arm stand up—this was real. That was Hermione for sure and no Death Eater could polyjuice into a dead person. He was smiling so widely that Uncle Vernon stared at him, mouth agape.

"What are you staring at, boy?"

"And who might this be?" Headmaster Jameson asked, in a false cheery voice.

But Harry wasn't listening to either of them. He was too busy staring at Hermione—and, who was that she was with? The sandy hair—the lopsided grin—the scars on his face. He was easily recognizable and Harry almost did a double take.

_What the bloody hell?_

* Alright, hear me out for a second. Earlier in the chapter Harry said that Hermione mentioned the Open House being approximately a week before she received her Hogwarts Letter. Now, I imagine that most all Hogwarts Students get their letters within the last week and a half of July. After all, it wouldn't make sense for Hermione to receive her letter on her eleventh birthday—pretty much an entire year before she would be admitted into Hogwarts, right? Am I wrong here? Do people always get their letters on their birthdays? If so, please tell me for future reference. So I picked July 17th because it is approximately a week before I think Hermione might've gotten her letter to Hogwarts.

** Warner Academy is strictly fictional, and has no basis in real life. As far as I can tell, there is no Warner Academy in Bristol or anywhere in the United Kingdom. However, if there is a Warner Academy anywhere in the world that may have similarities to the Warner Academy I have created, it is purely coincidental. Secondly, Frederick J. Warner is also a made-up character who has no basis in real life. He has no relation to Frederick Warner the British Chemist, Frederick Warner the deceased British Ambassador, Fred M. Warner the deceased Governor of Michigan or Fred Warner the 19th century professional baseball player. (I swear, when I picked that name I had no idea I'd find so many with the same name on Wikipedia.) Any similarities to Warner Academy or Frederick Warner—whether in real life, fiction, or another fanfiction—are purely coincidental.

*** Eh, another thing I actually looked up. Don't look at me like that. I don't have that much time on my hands; I just enjoy doing things like this. I see it as a vital part of writing any piece of fanfiction to look up facts—any fact that can be obtained by research is worth it to me, no matter how insignificant. So, if you were in Bristol on July 17th, 1991 it would've been 16 C. The temperature for Little Whinging was based off the July 17th, 1991 reading for a town called Farnborough in Hampshire, extremely close to the Surrey borderline. All temperature readings credited to the Historical Temperature Readings at .

I did a lot of research for this chapter, didn't I? Anyway, I hoped you liked the re-write of this chapter, and please review this Chapter again to tell me what you think of it. I'd really appreciate it. And I realize that this is pretty different from the original Chapter Two so it may change the story a little bit, but it will only effect the next three or four chapters-- or it should anyway. It shouldn't effect the new Chapters. Speaking of the new Chapters, Chapter 22 will out be out very soon-- within the next few days.

S.S.M.


	3. Meeting The Weasleys

**Meeting the Weasleys… again**

* * *

I never did go back to the Dursleys. I simply sent them a note, and I could almost see their faces as they read it with agony and pain as Petunia realized he was just as much of a 'freak' as his mother, and she had been unsuccessful in 'squashing the magic out of him. They really were as thick as they sounded.

For the past week he had been staying in Remus' cottage, getting ready for the new start of term. They had gone over reasons to tell Ron and Hermione, and reasons not to. They had even made a pro-con list.

The Sirius area was going just as well as the other areas. They hadn't even been able to see him yet, but Remus had protested to the Ministry that he have a trial, and if he was convicted guilty at the trial, then he would be sentenced to the Death Penalty.

Guess who Sirius' attorney was?

That's right, it was Remus. He wasn't exactly... qualified, but nobody knew that. Besides, nobody would take the job of being Sirius Black's attorney anyway; for if they lost, which many were convinced they would, they would shunned from society forever.

Then again, Remus was already shunned from the population of the Wizarding World, so it worked out quite nicely.

Term was coming up on them fast and they had done much to prepare, and had done everything in the area of deciding what to change and what to keep, but hadn't even gotten his school supplies yet. They were too busy thinking about other, more important things. Like if they would actually live without being found out. Or what Dumbledore said when he learned of their predicament.

Or how Harry was going to act eleven? How was he going to act like he was eleven when he was actually eighteen? He'd be a genius. Way smarter than Hermione.

But when Sirius learned that Remus and Harry were going to be at his trial, he was supposed to have been the happiest man alive. Of course, he had no idea what he was in for when he really learned who Remus and Harry were.

"Eggs or bacon, Harry?" Remus asked Harry as he poured himself a small bowl of milk and some cereal. He and Harry had become quite close over the past few days, and he was starting to wonder what was wrong with Harry. He knew that the boy was stressed, but Harry was acting odd, or at least more oddly than he usually acted.

"Both," Harry said to Remus, flashing him a cheeky grin. They both had been confined to the small Lupin hut in the middle of nowhere and it was making them both a bit uncomfortable.

"As you wish, Mr. Potter sir; I only live to serve you."

"Too right you do."

Harry starred absent-mindedly at the portrait of the small wizard holding up a sign that he could read now that he was closer to it than the time a few days ago when he was too far to read it. He was surprised to find that the title read:

**James Kennedy Lupin**

**Trophy for killing the beasts we know as werewolves**

**The best werewolf hunter since Edgar Lionel who died in 1827**

**Awarded age 38 died age 43**

**9/5/62**

"What are you starring at?" The portrait snapped at him, looking him up and down with a look of distaste in his mouth. Harry jumped, just remembering this was a wizarding house and the portraits could talk on the walls.

"Nothing," he said, his head looking up and down at the man and then at the Kitchen to find Remus so he could explain who this man was. Harry had a slight feeling he was not a friend. When Remus came out, he dropped his coffee cup and shut the curtain with so much force, it almost ripped.

"Remus, who is he?" Harry asked in a shaky voice. "Is he your--?"

"Father?" Remus finished for Harry, swallowing hard and avoiding eye contact with him. "Yes, he was. He was a werewolf hunter as you now know, and I've tried to take him down several times, but it's a stick charm, similar to the charm in the Black House for the portrait of Sirius' mother."

Harry swallowed hard before asking this. "What happened to him? Why did he die young?"

"Well, he started hunting werewolves a year before I was born, in late 1958 and then I was born in late 1959. I never saw too much of him and my Mother always disagreed with him and argued that werewolves were humans to, and deserved respect. So, in 1963 when he was 39 he finally decided that he had enough of her. He was awarded this trophy when he was 38, in 1962. He took me away after he killed her and I lived alone with him for quite sometime. But when I was bitten by a werewolf when I was six in 1965 he tried to kill me as well. But I escaped and was found by my Uncle who raised me after that. He was bitten by a werewolf in 1967 when he was 43 and committed suicide."

Harry didn't know what to say. His head was full of questions, but he saw the amount of tears in Remus' eye, that he decided it would best to simply forget about the whole thing and go to Diagon Alley like they had planned.

* * *

"Where to first, Harry?" Remus said, taking a bite out of his ice-cream and then laid it on the table next to him. When Harry finally put his ice cream down he stood up, grabbed his book bag and walked down the street.

"I forgot how good ice cream tasted when I was eleven."

Remus chuckled and the walked to Flourish and Blotts, passing by the Quality Qudditch store. Harry smiled when he heard the young children looking at the broom with awe. He smiled at Remus and smiled at the group.

"Their so excited about it, aren't they? Little kids can be that way."

Remus sent him a glare and Harry gave him a questionable look before he steered him into Flourish and Blotts, his arm clutched on Harry's tightly, and then put Harry's hood up before he entered the store.

"Let's see," he said, scanning over the book list, with a scowl at the man who was looking at him and Harry questionably, "Transfiguration for Beginners, Potions and Herbs, Year 1, Simple Charms, Year 1, Greenhouse Mending I and Simple Defense Year 1."

When the man came back with a hand full of books, he set them on the counter and sneered and Harry and Remus and then stretched his hand out for the galleons that Remus owed him. When Remus him twenty galleons, he turned to Harry, a smile on his lips.

"Why don't you go over and get Hedwig," he whispered, "I need to do a few things over here."

Harry nodded, eyeing the man suspiciously and then looked over at the window of the Magical pet store. He knew Hedwig would be there, but it was odd not know that she was his owl. He walked over to the store, rang the bell and looked at Hedwig in the cage. She was just as he had remembered her.

He swallowed hard as he walked over to the women at the counter and nodded towards the cage in which Hedwig sat, and she let Hedwig out, hooting happily at Harry. Harry smiled at her and she flew off the woman's hands into Harry's arms.

"She seems to like you; that's odd."

Harry didn't say anything, because he didn't want to be noticed. He simply handed her twenty galleons and left the shop, Hedwig and her cage behind him, the woman glaring at him the whole way. He wasn't really liked in Diagon alley, was he?

When he saw Remus on the other side of the street, he waved him over and he had an armful of books and a muggle plastic bag that looked like it had been charmed to hold more things in it and become invisible. He walked over to Harry, handed him five books and the plastic bag.

Harry looked inside the bag and a whole cart full of sweets lay there, the chocolate frogs bouncing in the bag, coming out of there cages, spilling the cards everywhere and knocking over Bertie Botts beans bags so that the beans lay all over the bag.

He looked at the books and read from one title, _Dark Arts Spells and Jinxes._

"Happy birthday, Harry." He said his smile broad and his teeth showing his crooked grin as they entered the Leakey Cauldron. Harry couldn't help but be thankful Remus was here, because if he wasn't….

He'd still be at the Dursleys. And well, who would want to be at the Dursleys? He was enwrapped in his own thoughts he hadn't even noticed when Remus began talking with somebody else, their voices flowing over the heads of every person that resided presently in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Arthur!" He heard Remus' voice boom form over the crowd and Harry felt his stomach go numb. In only a moments time he would be seeing his best friend, who as far as he knew was dead, alive and well again, with no idea who he was.

"Who is this young lad, Remus?" Arthur asked, with so much enthusiasm it scared Harry a great deal more than he expected it should. Remus smiled shyly at Harry and pulled him over so that Arthur could get a better look at him. He felt like a zoo animal being put out for auction.

"This is Harry Potter." Remus announced this as Arthur was holding out his hand to shake. Immediately, he looked at Harry with extreme curiosity. Harry just smiled and put out his hand, and Arthur suddenly stopped his trace to greet him.

"Well Harry," he said, shaking the boy's hand and looking at him, "It's good; no great to meet son. I sure do hope I'll be seeing some more of you and you may see my son when you go to Hogwarts, his name is Ron Weasley."

At that moment a red-haired woman came over grasping two younger boys that were smiling mischievously to one and other, with a foreign piece of parchment on their hands, their mother holding their hands tight, the boys still grinning ear to ear.

"These would be my wife, and my two sons, Fred and George."

Harry smiled and looked over at the two pranksters and they held out their hand one by one to shake his. An odd feeling lurched in his stomach as they touched hands, but he disregarded it as he saw that Fred was talking.

"You can call me Gred," he whispered, half-smiling and half-smirking. He reminded Harry of a mix of a Malfoy and a Weasley, but more mischievous and whole-hearted than any Malfoy could ever try to be.

"And me Forge," whispered George, as Remus talked away to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He had noticed that Mrs. Weasley hadn't come over to him yet just as she stopped talking with the men as they began a talk about Qudditch she approached Harry with a distinct ruffled look.

"Harry! Good to finally meet you, son. Please, call me Molly, dear."

That was Molly Weasley for you.

"It's nice to meet you to Mrs.—Molly."

"Molly, don't harass the poor boy. Anyways, Harry and I really must be going, but I suppose we will see each other very soon, yes? I'm sure Harry and Ron will meet on the train, Molly. No worries, please. Now, we must be going."

* * *

"Can I sit here?" A red haired head poked into the carriage that Harry had only walked into about a minute ago after he practically ran people over to get to the Express on time, but that didn't matter.

He was going to meet Hermione and Ron….

Again.

This was exactly what he had been waiting for. The moment that Ron had entered the compartment Harry felt that his lungs could no longer work. They had closed up and he gasping for air…

On the inside.

"Sure," Harry said, just a little too cheerfully. Ron smiled and sat down opposite him and he decided that he'd better not scare Ron by knowing a little too much about him. He laughed at the sight of Ron's face when he thought Ron was a Trelawney fraud or something equally as freighting.

"So, is it true? My mother said she talked to you, and I was just wondering, I don't mean to pester or anything, but, do you rally have the--"

"Scar?" Harry asked, smiling pleasantly. He knew that some people would hate the attention and throw Ron out on his behind, but Harry knew that Ron would forget about his fame and like him for who he was. Sometime or another anyway. Whether it was sooner or later, Harry knew that Ron's company may be the only thing that would keep him sane on this trip.

But then again, he didn't know.

He didn't know that Harry was actually an eighteen year old stuck in an eleven year olds body. When he pulled back his scar, he saw Ron gasp n delight and he chuckled as he put it back down. He forgot how childish Ron used to be.

"Have any of you seen a toad?" Someone said him from behind, and Harry practically whipped his head around to see the girl who he had spent so many years confining in and loving as if she was his own sister.

But what he found on her expression was not what he had wished to find.

He'd wished to find happiness and joy in the face of Hermione Granger, but instead he saw arrogance and annoyance on her face as she looked at Ron as though he were the lowest dirt on the planet.

Did Hermione used to resemble Draco Malfoy that much?

He barely heard her when she addressed him and almost forgotten what his name was when Ron suddenly snapped him back to reality while pointing a jabby looking finger at her with a mixed expression on his face.

"Harry Potter, right?" She asked, in now a sudden extremely happy and interested look on her face. Now that more like the Hermione he knew.

Once she had left it was time to get out of the carriage and into the school. While everybody was fascinated by Hogwarts and its amazing size, he and Draco Malfoy were the only ones who didn't seem to care at all. Harry, because he had seen it before, and Draco, because was arrogant and his house was the same size.

"And you must be the famous Mr. Potter! Hello, me names Hagrid. Don't be too startled by my appearance, but I was good friends with you parent's. Off you go then, don't want to be late!" Hagrid said, bouncing around like a little boy on Christmas.

"Minerva, the students!" Hagrid said happily as every head turned to see the strict looking Transfiguration Teacher at the doorway, a broad smile on her face. While she was speaking to Hagrid, he caught a glimpse of blonde before Draco Malfoy was face to face with Harry.

"So, what they were saying on the train was right then, Harry Potter has finally come to Hogwarts?" He asked a sneer in his voice. "This is Crabbe and Goyle," he said, pointing to the giant boys over his shoulder, "and I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he continued, still a proud look on his face.

"I'm Bond, James Bond." He replied, a sarcastic sneer in his voice.

"I thought you were Potter," he said, rubbing his chin. Several of the muggle-borns and half-bloods laughed at this statement, and Harry could tell he had just eased the situation of the Sorting down just a bit. But before Draco or anyone else could respond, McGonagall was in the doorway again, her smile broad and her eyes big.

"We're ready for you now."

As he walked through the hall, he noticed that several students were glaring at him. He was puzzled as to why, but he had no time to ponder it, as the Sorting Hat began to break out in song.

'_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find,_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,_

_And I can cap them all._

_There'd nothing hidden in your head,_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a thinking cap!_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat ended its song and Harry smile weakly at the mention of all four houses. He had never once thought about the things that had happened over the years and the fact he owed it all to the Sorting Hat.

When he heard Draco Malfoy's name being called he quickly looked around the room for Hermione. He found her, chatting with Lavender Brown at the Gryffindor table. He smiled that he hadn't changed anything yet.

But that was yet.

Until Draco Malfoy's turn.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall was shocked silent. So was Draco.

This was not what he was expecting. What had he changed? What had he done?

* * *

A/N: Please read and review.

Reviews answers will be added next chapter.


	4. Gryffindor Shock Scandal

_The Gryffindor Shock Scandal_

* * *

Harry could have sworn that there was something in air as the hat burst out the fatal words that would change Draco Malfoy's life. These smells in the air were revolting yet beautiful at the same time. It seemed the other people in the hall were just as surprised as he was.

Draco being at the top of the list.

"I--"he began, but words simply could not form in his mouth. Nobody moved and nobody spoke. McGonagall took the hat off his head as if it were contagious to make sure that it wouldn't bite her. Once she satisfied, she ushered Draco to the Gryffindor table, a spark in her eye as he went.

"McDougal, Doug," she said, breaking the silence that remained in the Great Hall. He didn't even bother to watch the rest of the sorting, and he could hear Ron's nervous breathing behind him.

"Patil, Padma."

"Gryffindor!"

The hat sure was getting pretty close. He could hear his heart pounding inside his body and quickly silenced it as the sorting hat called his name.

"Potter, Harry!"

Just as they had last time, millions of whispers came throughout the crowd. He was pointed at and pointed out to muggle-borns who didn't know who he was. People pointed to their own foreheads as to show their friends where the 'famous scar' was.

Personally, he found it extremely annoying and he wished they would stop soon. When he arrived at the stool, McGonagall have him a side glance and he could see Dumbledore smiling at him from above on his podium. He never really observed this last time, he thought as he climbed onto the chair and the hat drooped into his eyes.

'_Mr. Potter,' the Sorting Hat rang in his voice, its low voice pounding in his head like a beat of drums. He had already done this once, why was he so nervous now. He had changed Malfoy's sorting, what if he changed his own?_

"_You are a talented young boy, and a very smart boy. You've been through a lot I must say, and I am not speaking of the Dursleys. You and I both know that you aren't the Harry Potter people are expecting, are you? I've already sorted you."_

_How did it know? That wasn't a problem though, as long as the Sorting Hat didn't tell Dumbledore before he and Remus had a chance to, he supposed it would be alright._

"_Please just put me in Gryffindor, it's where you put me last."_

_He could have sworn he heard the hat chuckle in his ear. "Yes, but Mr. Potter, you have grown so much since the last time we met. Last time we met you had a thirst to prove yourself, but that is gone now. This means that you have only just reassured me that you truly belong in…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry practically leaped off the stool in happiness. He hadn't changed his own sorting and he hoped nothing else would happen. After many people were sorting, most of which Harry remembered as being a lot older than they were now, Ron was up to be sorted. He had to cross his fingers that he hadn't changed anything else…

He needed Ron. Ron was so important in his key success to destroying the last horcreaux of Voldemort's. Besides, he was a great friend and there was no way they would become as close as they had been if he wasn't anywhere but…

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled, finishing Harry's thought for him. Harry was so happy and so full of relief; he felt all the sweat that had once been on his body simply rush away from him as Ron sat on the bench.

Now all he had to do was figure out the Malfoy situation. How had he gotten in Gryffindor anyway? What had Harry done to influence the sorting Hat to do something like that? It had to be either him or Remus, because if it wasn't us, there must be some other person from the future trying to ruin his plans.

But who knows? Maybe having Draco Malfoy as a friend could only increase his chances of beating Voldemort, not diminish them. As he thought about this, he had noticed that he was sitting right across the table from the sulking boy. He had never seen Draco Malfoy so stunned in his entire life, and it was making him quite uneasy.

He felt bad for Malfoy. For once in life he actually felt bad for the blonde haired twit. But at least he wasn't acting like such a twit anymore.

"Look," Harry said to Draco, after he had taken a piece of chicken from the plate next to him, grinning up at Draco, "I'm really sorry about what happened in the Entrance Hall if I made you look like a fool, but I'm sure we can start over right?"

"Me? Start over with you Potter?" He asked his voice hoarse and his mouth forming into a small smirk. He didn't even bother to say anything else to Malfoy, because he knew it would result in something bad. Why did he ever try to befriend to Malfoy?

"Look Potter," he said, "Don't kick someone when their down. Just leave me alone."

The next few days went without much action, but Harry was relieved to know that Ron and Draco had taken to not talking to each other much. He decided it was much better this way seeing as they wouldn't have to argue all the time.

But he had never seen Draco Malfoy so quiet before. It made him feel really uneasy.

* * *

When he arrived in Snape's class for the first time, he noticed how dark the dungeons were. They didn't really used to be this dark when he was back in school, did they? Then again, he knew a lot of things were going to change and he doubted he would remember some things.

"Mr. Potter!" Snape voice boomed through the room and Harry wasn't exactly what you could say, ready for it. He and Ron had been speaking of Qudditch and what their favorite teams were when Harry was questioned. "What is one of the potions that the infusion of wormwood is associated with?"

He knew this. This would give Snape a run for his money. "The Draught of the Living Dead, sir," he replied cheekily. Many of the students gasped and he heard Lavender and Parvati talking about how he had special powers because he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

Were they serious?

"Where would you find a beazor?" He asked, a little shaken up.

"The stomach of a goat, sir," he replied, and he could see Ron grinning madly behind him. He knew every student in the room was wondering how he knew this, but Snape simply kept going.

"And what Potter, is the difference between monkswood and wolfsbane?" Snape asked, almost reassuring himself that Harry wouldn't get it right. Harry looked right into the traitor's eyes, and smirked.

"I cannot tell you."

Snape now wore I triumphant smirk on his face and Harry could see several of the Slytherin's eyes lit up with happiness, but then Harry crushed their hopes by coming back up with the answer.

"I simply cannot tell you Professor Snape, because I am afraid there is no difference. The two plants are simply the same herb with two different names used to make a werewolf keep his mind on the days of his transformation. The herb is also sometimes called aconite."

Snape was speechless. The rest of the class simply did not know what to say. Ron had his mouth hanging open and even Hermione was looking at him with weirdly. But the only person in the room who was not looking at him as if he was from another planet was…

Malfoy.

"Malfoy! Tell me, what are the exactly where I would be able to find the herb of monkswood or wolfsbane, and in what year was it originated?" Snape asked, finally sure that he was going to get someone now.

He was wrong.

"They are normally found in Germany and a large population of them has been growing recently in France, but there is only one known to Britain called the Herb for Magical Plants Society and it was invented by Rudolph Himinzeker in 1986," was Draco's only response, and everyone was shocked in silence.

Including Harry. Since when did Malfoy know about Potions and Herebology? Plus, he did seem to know a bit more than the other students in Transfiguration. There was one thing that Harry did know.

Draco Malfoy was defiantly too smart for Harry's likely.

* * *

"Mr. Lupin? You plan to take any and all of the ridicule that comes with being Black's attorney, do you not? That must be a painful job, and I would say you are in very delicate condition seeing as the time of the month is coming around very soon…" Lucius Malfoy droned on and on from here about the terms of Remus' condition, but it seemed Remus wasn't listening to a word he said.

That was probably a good thing.

"Allow me to intervene Lucius, but I think that Mr. Lupin will need no more persuasion at this point in time. He has made his position quite clear and we are going to do nothing against him until the case and trial is presented. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Lucius said, still eyeing Remus in a manner of harsh condition. "Will you excuse me Minister, I have much work to do before the Arours are sent home today on their usual business. I'm sure you will understand, don't you Cornelius?" Lucius asked, his voice dripping with so much sarcasm towards Remus he could feel Lucius' eyes on him the entire time.

"Certainly Lucius, do as you must; Mr. Lupin and I here need to have a nice friendly chat over a possible nice steaming cup of tea, yes? Can I offer you any before you depart, Lucius?" The Minister asked, his head inclined towards the bucket of hot tea on the table next to him, his voice swift and his posture sure.

"No thank you Cornelius," he said, obviously disgusted at the fact he'd need to take more time speaking to Remus and he wasn't very keen on speaking to the werewolf very much anyways. "I must be going now; I do hope you enjoy your little chat."

Just as Lucius had gone Remus felt a chill on the back of his spine and Cornelius set a drink on the table before him, his teeth showing a crooked smile as he went done to take one of the papers on his desk over to Remus, who then took it and began to skim the paper, one eye still on Cornelius.

"Do you agree to these terms, Mr. Lupin?" He asked after a short while of watching Remus skim the paper, pouring hot tea into his cracked cup, stifling a yawn as he did. He knew what the terms meant and that he could be banned from society forever if he did not win the case of Sirius Black.

He was willing to take that chance.

"On one simple request Cornelius, will I feel obligated to follow the rules on said contract and said terms."

Cornelius looked up and eyed him suspiciously. He would have never guessed that the man would have asked for something in return, since he seemed so eager before about doing Black's case, in which he could not tell why. But never the less, he continued speaking.

"If the Ministry and I find this simple request as you put it alright to do, then we will defiantly allow this request to be seen and considered."

"I would like to see said subject in Azkaban."

* * *

Harry knew that he was probably just imaging things and Draco had been good at Potions, but he could have sworn that there was something amiss here. When Ron came up to him to ask if anything was wrong, he simply did not feel like talking. It felt off not to be able to talk to Ron about a lot of things he was troubled with.

"Draco!" He said, just catching the boy as they walked out of the Herebology Greenhouses and took a sharp left to find themselves headed back to Hogwarts for lunch on the second Tuesday since they had arrived at Hogwarts.

"What is it, Potter?"

"Look, I'm really sort about happened the train, honestly, and if your going to hold me to that honestly I think it's a bit stupid of yourself to hold onto the that bit of anger when I never really realized I was doing anything wrong."

"Save it for somebody who cares," Draco said, dismissing Harry completely and trying to walk faster than him so that he could have the lead of all the other students.

"Look, I'm only trying to help you," Harry said, and then Draco swirled back around to confront Harry. His eyes shown with anger and confusion, the normal grey was now lighter but still looked as though they were full of depression and sadness.

"Well don't!" He snapped, and then turned around and marched back to the castle. Harry wasn't going to let him get off that easily though. He shot past a Hufflepuff girl not even bothering to say he was sorry to her or even acknowledge that she was there.

"I'm just trying to be a friend!"

"Well don't! Who wants to be a friend to the Amazing Bouncing Ferret anyway?"

Harry paused. The younger Draco would never know about that. As soon as the words came out of his mouth Harry could see that Draco was slowly thinking about what he had just said. Harry paused, his lip trembling.

"You're not eleven are you?" Harry asked, his stomach lurching.

"No."

* * *

A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!

Cedric555d: I love that you love the story! Keep reading!

Immortaleyes: Thanks! And yes, we are just all demons trying to rule the world! Of course!

Crysiana Fay: I must say my dear you have the sight! Sorry, but you are foreshadowing. Don't worry, about Chapter 6 or 7 I think we'll find out what he was doing in that chapter.

DiscombobulatedDrummer: I'm glad you like it! Keep reading!

Mew Mew Fire Heart: I'm glad you like it! But yes, this has been used several times.

Inuyshalover4ever2: I'm glad you really liked it.

Pandasruletheworld: Glad you think so!

Marquerida: Why thank you! I do hope it species it up for you a bit!

Mooncheese: Thanks! Nice name by the way!

Shazia Born Confused: Glad you liked it!

Anon: Well thank you!

Bmc: I only try to.

Athiana: Thank you!

Honey Nut Loop: Wonder no more! Here it is.

HoshiHikari: Thank you! Love the enthusiasm!

Dracolover2008: Thank you, and so do I!  
Animerocksjapanrocks: Thanks!

Bobboky: Thanks! So am I!

Padfoot's Sidekick: Thanks! I'm sure I will!

Hogwartsgirl52: Glad you like it!

Soelle: I know it isn't, but I'm glad you like it all the same!

Savysuperstar95: Wow! Thank you.

HonorHarringaton-92: Well me too! Lol, thank you.

Shadow315: I'm glad you like it but I am sorry to say that this actually not be rl/hp sadly, although I'm not biased against it or anything. There may be a few Remi/Harry fatherly/son moments that you make out as romance, but not many. I hope you will still read it!

I'm sorry but I'll have to do the rest next chapter. Please don't be too mad. I must go to bed now.

-Silver Alpha Wolf-


	5. The One With the Black Fur

_The One with the Black Fur_

* * *

"But I don't get it," Harry said, making the most effort he could find in his scrawny little body to come up with any words at this time. All the students had now passed them, including Ron who now had an odd look on his face as he passed Harry. Draco simply gave him a smirk and turned to walk away.

"You think your getting away now, Malfoy? Try again, because in no way or means am I done." Draco starred at the scrawny boy in shock, but simply urged him to keep going, smirking at him the entire time.

"Why? How?" Harry asked, having a hard time making sentences.

"Never knew you couldn't speak in sentences, Potter. For why, I thought it would be a little obvious, but it seems your tiny head cannot comprehend that much information at once. Potter, think about it! I realized what my Father was doing was wrong when it was too late! The only way I could make sure that didn't happen was to ask to be put anywhere but Slytheirn…"

Harry starred at him, a blank expression on his face. "You asked it? Then why were you so surprised?"

"To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting to be put in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw was the most suitable answer, but I could have never expected Gryffindor. Besides, don't I have an act to put on, don't I?" Draco asked, pushing past Harry to lunch.

"We have to work together here, Malfoy!"

"Forget it, Potter, it's not going to happen."

"You never answered my other question," Harry said, leaning against a tree, his face gleaming in the sunlight. Draco looked at him with curiosity and then turned around to practically wipe out Susan Bones who sent him a dirty look, and went back to Harry, a small smile on his lips.

"What would that be?" He asked his voice so low that Harry could barely hear it, let alone interpret it.

"How; you answered why you went back in time but you never told me how you did it, did you Malfoy? How did you get back in time, and how did you know I was back in time as well? How did you know I was here?"

Draco had a small smirk on his lips as he answered, "Let's just say, you and the werewolf weren't the only ones alive in the room that day."

"You?" Harry asked, completely bewildered that he had been so thick and so stupid to not realize that the tug of the necklace of the time-turner wasn't just a trick of the wind, and in fact had been someone pulling on the necklace tied to tight around his neck, his sweat surrounding it completely. "You were there?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" Malfoy said, and then laughed. He eyed a blonde Ravenclaw boy leaning on their conversation and started to shoo him away when he decided to join them in a conversation.

"Aren't you Harry Potter?"

"Bugger off, kid!" Draco said, highly agitated with the kid who seemed to be looking at Harry as if he were some kind of Muggle war hero. Draco gave him an icy glare, but the kid only returned it and turned on Harry again.

"My names Sturgis!"

"Did you not hear me or do you have some kind of retarded position where you cannot hear or comprehend anything I am saying!"

After another icy glare, the boy left the area and quickly decided that it was not a good idea to mess with Draco Malfoy, especially with all the stress he had been through in the past few days. Quickly realizing this, Harry ushered the boy off the premises, and then back to Draco.

"Look, we're going to have to work together."

"Where the hell are you getting your ideas from Potter? There is no way in hell that I'm going to work with you, and if you do think there may be, you're on something stronger than I had ever imagined possible. I came here for one reason, to redeem myself. I had no idea that meant become best friends with Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Golden boy."

Harry tensed as Draco talked about him in such a way, but kept it to himself. Convincing Draco Malfoy to help him, well that was another story altogether. Draco Malfoy was not easily convinced at most things, and Harry knew it would take some time to convince him to help Harry defeat the wizard he was brought up to serve.

"I'm not asking you to be a part of the Golden Trio or anything Malfoy…"

Draco smirked and so he barely heard when Harry mumbled under his breath, "yet," and then glanced around to see if anyone else was watching. He smiled when he saw Hermione sitting under a bush by herself reading a book.

"Think I should go over?"

Draco sneered at him and looked at him oddly. "Over where Potter?" He said, and then barely noticed that Hermione Granger was sitting, reading a book that looked like it was very lengthy, and she was the only one in the whole world who would ever even consider reading it.

"Granger? Go ahead Potter, see what I care. I can simply imagine it now, though. Hello, Hermione, I'm Harry, but I know you don't know who I am! But I'm from the future where we happen to best friends and know Draco Malfoy is going to help me to get rid of the evil wizard that isn't even around, Voldemort! Want to help?"

Harry scowled and Draco's smirk simply grew deeper. Harry hot him a nasty look before he got up off the tree and headed inside, disregarding Malfoy completely.

"Hey Potter!"

"What?"

"I guess you are right, in a sense. But don't think I'll join the little Gryffindor party club or anything like that, believe me, okay? I'm going to be civil with you for one reason and one reason only; because we have the same goal. No other reason. Understand?"

Harry smiled knowing that once he met all the Gryffindors and met Ron's mother he would change his mind completely. He knew that Draco Malfoy was getting more than he bargained for, but he simply smiled.

"Whatever you want, Malfoy!"

"It's Draco, for future reference."

"And mine's Harry," he said, challenging Malfoy as he raised his eyebrow and took out his Transfiguration book and scribbled something down as he went inside for Lunch. He smiled shyly as Draco watched him walk away.

"Pot- Harry!"

"What is it know, Mal- Draco!"

Draco smirked and turned to look that nobody was listened. He leaned closely into Harry's ear, and double checked any movement around them, and then whispered slowly and clearly,

"Who is James Bond?"

* * *

"Would the defense please call their first witness to the stand so that we can get this trial on the road please? I herby commence the trial of Sirius Orion Black in session for today's trial. Today we will explore the murder of the Potter's apparently made by Mr. Black who pleads innocent to not only this but the murder of Peter Pettigrew and the death of twelve muggles in clear daylight. You do plead innocent, do you not Mr. Black?"

Sirius nodded his head and Remus nudged him. Sirius wasn't exactly aware of the customs in the house of law, and Remus was sure he was going to make a fool of himself and simply make it harder for his case to be examined.

"Would the defense please issue their first witness to the event of the murder of Mr. Pettigrew and the murder of all the muggles on the sunrise of November 1rst in 1980, and who may this witness be, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus paused as he searched for a paper in his file and when he found it, he stood up and faced Amelia Bones, a woman he'd known had been dead for one year. Actually, almost everyone in this meetinghouse at one time in Remus' life had been dead.

"Madam Bones, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would like to bring up a subject that was there during the of the supposed 'murder' of Peter Pettigrew—"

"So, you are not only implying to that your client did not kill Mr. Pettigrew, but simply that the death of Pettigrew simply doesn't exist and that it never happened?" Amelia said, looking straight into the hollow eyes of Remus Lupin.

"Precisely, Madam Bones; the murder of Peter Pettigrew was a fraud and the finger that was cut off was cut off by Pettigrew himself so that he was able to escape the wrath of Sirius. Sirius, my client, was trying to get back at Pettigrew for the betrayal and murder of the Potters, his and mine close friends, Lily and James and their son Harry."

"So, let me get this straight; Pettigrew faked his own death so that he could escape the torment that was waiting for him when he faced Black, for he was angry at the murder of his close friends, Lily and James Potter?"

He could see in the corner of his eye Rita Skeeter, who also happened to be dead many years from now, and he could see that she was smirking at everything Madam Bones was saying. She happened to think that this would make the front cover.

And it would. Whether he was released or put back in Azkaban.

"That is correct, Madam Bones."

"And how exactly did Pettigrew escape the wrath of Black when he had to run away from him, and there was no sign of Pettigrew within a ten mile radius of the place. We had checked the entire place around, and no Pettigrew for miles, and he could not have run ten miles in ten or fewer minutes, could he Mr. Lupin?"

Many people gasped at this as thought Remus was going down, and so was Sirius. But he simply smirked at the thought of it and turned to Madam Bones, his posture sure and his mind ready.

"That is because, Madam Bones, nobody bothered to check for animals in the sewers, did they? The only logical explanation is that Mr. Pettigrew is in fact an animagus that takes the form of a small grey rat."

Amelia almost stepped back in shock. She had not been expecting this.

"And what evidence do you have that Pettigrew is actually alive and still in the service of the Dark Lord as we speak today? Plus, how could he possibly be in the service of the Dark Lord He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named if the Dark Lord was supposedly killed or at least disappeared the night in question?"

At this moment, the huge brass doors swung open and two figures stepped into the light, one dragging a cage with a rat in it and the other looking particularly smug.

"He doesn't have evidence, but we do!"

* * *

A/N: The first person who is able to find out who the two are will be able to win a prize. They will briefly be announced in the next chapter and some other chapters after this. All you have to do is leave me a review with this information attached to it:

Name: ((Either yours or it can be a name you would like to make a character of and be able to show up in this fiction))

Age: ((Again, it can be yours or the characters that will be in the fiction))

Gender: ((Same thing, yours or the person in the fiction))

Personality:

History:

House:

Answer to the question: ((Important! You forget that and you lose!))

Personality and History can be very brief but I just want to get a feel for what you would like for me to do with the character in my fiction.

And again, first come, first serve!

And before I forget I would like to congratulate Rock On. Rock Out. For the wonderful chapter title in Chapter Four that was left in a review!

And onto the reviews:

Bandqsecurtiyaw: Glad you like it!

Rocks-My-Socks: Your wish is my command!

PheonixOwner: That I will!

Marquerida: Sirius will act a bit odd when he gets off, I mean he's not getting off, lol but he will be a bit stunned. And it may come after Dudley's birthday, but I was just going off memory.

Mariann's: Impatient. That's me in a nutshell. Glad you liked it!

Hopeless Romantic Writer: Me too! Lol, keep reading.

SailorHecate: Me too! Lol, keep reading.

Elektra107: Hope you like it! I will!

Brittles: Hope you liked it!

HoshiHikari: Hope they do! Glad you like it!

Yrl: You're right it is confusing. Lol, keep reading!

Soelle: Totally agree. Keep reading!

Shadows of the dark: Thanks. Keep reading!

Mew Mew Fire Heart: Me too! Keep reading!

Thorn of Lily: So glad! Keep reading!

Amethyst Phoenix: If you giggle too much, you hiccup. My sister knows from experience. Lol, glad you like it!

Bobboky: Glad you think so!

Rock On. Rock Out. : Glad you like it! Hope you don't mind me stealing your words!

Amac: I hope that cleared it up.

Pandas rule the world: Wait, what? Why is who a Malfoy?

Dracolover2008: Keep reading!

Rayama: He never did. Keep reading!

Tally6518: Will do!

Marquerida: here's Siri's chapter! Keep reading!

Crysiana Fay: You do that! Lol, keep reading!

HoshiHikari: Close, but I have no intention of making Hermione bitchy or bossy or anything like that. Maybe in the beginning a bit. Keep reading!

Thorn of Lily: Glad you seem to think so!

Pegaususbaby: Something is always up with Draco! Keep reading!

Live2sk8: You knew it! Keep going!

Yrl: Glad you loved it! I like plot twists!

Bandqsecurtiyaw: Thank you!

Rock On. Rock Out: Thanks! Woot!

Incoming Call: Mine too! Lol.

Phoenix Owner: You bet!

Harry-an-ginny: Damn straight!

Pandas rule the world: Eventually. Keep reading!

Slytherin-Angel44: Eighteen to be exact. Keep reading!

Rayama: They will. But it'll take some time.

Soelle: Most likely not. Keep reading!

HoshiHikari: Draco has his reasons….

Brittles: With sugar on top! Here you go, Miss!

And onto some questions you want answered:

**Where the hell is Hermione?  
**I know I haven't put her or Ron as an important role yet, but they will have one. This story isn't all about Harry and Draco. Don't worry. You'll see a lot more of Hermione in the next chapter as well as Ron.

**Is Draco seventeen as well?**

Yes, he is.

**Is Remus aware that Draco is back in time too?**

Not yet, but he will soon.

**Are Harry and Draco going to tell Ron and Hermione?**

That is for me to know and you to find out.

**Does Sirius know?  
**Not yet, but he will?

**Who are the people at the end of the chapter?**

They are…. Thought you could get me huh? I can't give that away! It's a contest!

Sorry it's so short, it's an informational chapter.

-Silver Alpha Wolf-


	6. The Dog, The Wolf and the Rat

_The Dog, The Wolf and the Rat_

* * *

"And who might you be?" Madam Bones asked each of the red-headed boys in question, shaking her head in disbelief that the courtroom had come to an adolescent hang-out of some sort. The two boys could not have looked older than fourteen… at the most. "You cannot look older than fourteen at the most…"

The first read headed one waved his hand in the air as the silence her. She was shocked silenced but simply stood there, flabbergasted at the two boys in front of her. The other one, the one with the rat, set him down on the table and looked at up at Remus, smirking.

"Please excuse my twin brother's behavior, Madam Bones," he said, in a simply cheeky voice. "He cannot control the fact that he got his social IQ from Percy Weasley." Several of the people in the office sniggered, but most remained silent.

Fred picked it up again. "I, Madam Bones, am Master Fred Weasley and this is my lovable and adorable but not half as adorable as me, Master George Weasley. We, at the service of you, Madam, would like the clear the innocence of Sirius Black with our good friend, Scabbers the rat."

"A rat?" Madam Bones said in a distinct voice that told Fred and George that she was not one to play around with. But then she started laughing. She turned to the jury as if for reassurance that this was completely impossible, but most remained silent or stunned; or both. "How could a rat possibly--"

"Did you not hear my good friend Mr. Lupin when he announced to this council that in fact Peter Pettigrew was an animagus as has been hiding out as a rat for the past twelve years in which happened to be our house…" George stated, looking so smug it would have made Percy proud, trying desperately to avoid losing Scabbers to the jury as he withered through his fingers.

"You are saying…" Madam Bones asked her voice much harsher and colder than before, "that this rat in question is actually Peter Pettigrew who has been hiding out as a rat for the past twelve years in your home?"

Fred and George nodded at the same time and Remus throw them a happy look crossed with a disappointed look. Fred and George knew they were supposed to be in school and yet would never ever tell anyone how they got here.

A Marauder's secret.

"I would like to call Mr. Alastor Moody, resident Arour for this case and for the case of the betrayal of Lily and James Potter. Mr. Moody, sir, do you have anything to add to this case before we become truly aware of the whereabouts of Peter Pettigrew?"

Fred could have sworn he saw Moody smiling from the back of his scowl that was painted onto his face. He could have sworn that Moody's fake eye was swirling oddly in its place, hovering over the jury and then settled on Remus and Sirius, who each where listening and watching the rat with intense dislike. "No, Madam."

"Then I would like Mr. Moody to demonstrate for us the Concealment charm that conceals animagus' and enables us to find illegal animagus during our time at the Ministry. Mr. Moody, if you would do the honors that we have gathered here for today?"

There was little breathing in the room. Everyone could tell Sirius was holding his raspy breath as the rat tried desperately to get out of the magical chains that were held so close to it that it was not able to run away. Glimpses of a wolf, a stag, a dog and a rat filled his mind was he saw the aged rat around in its corner, squirming as it was going through the Cruciatus curse.

"_Immobulus!" _Moody said loud and clear, so that Pettigrew stopped dancing in his cage the moment that the curse had left Mad-Eye Moody's mouth. Everyone in the courtroom could see Sirius' smirk as Moody placed the rat in his hand, barely breathing, and uttered the final words.

"_Evractartius!"_

The room was completely silent as a bald-headed man came into view and he looked distinctly ruffled. His hair stood up in ways that not even Sirius Black could rival and his nails were so long that many of the girls screamed. He had pimples and zit-like moles on the sides of his face, and he could face could scare off any child in a moment. The man in questions once cleanly cut pure blond hair sagged lifeless between his ears, the thirty-one man balding and graying as though he were seventy.

The courtroom did not speak for a few moments. It seemed that people were simply just too shocked to do anything, let alone get out of there seats. But Sirius was looking at him as if he was complete venom. The drool that came from the dog's mouth was enough to scare the large man to the other side of the room.

"He was going to kill me," Pettigrew said his voice so low that almost nobody could hear him. It had seemed that he had not used in several years and was just trying to use it for the first time in History.

"Would you care to explain your part of the story, Mr. Pettigrew, or shall we simply just send you to Azkaban and set Mr. Black free so that you won't have to endure that kind of horrible pain and rejection as you explain your side of the…." She said drifting off, starring at the man in complete horror.

"He was going to kill me," Peter said, a little more clearly now. His voice, though still raspy was still loud enough to reach the ears of Sirius Black and his clenched fists on the other side of the room. But Peter paid no attention, because all he really cared about was being let free and no be sentenced to the Dementors Kiss. "I went into hiding as a rat because I was afraid he was going to kill me after he blew the muggles off the street, I knew I was no match against him."

"Lies!" Sirius said, standing up and clearly very agitated with the jury for letting this man speak in the place of honor, let alone set a foot within a ten meter radius of the courthouse he was currently residing in.

"Mr. Black! Please keep your emotional level down to a lower level please while we deal with this; I would not fancy any interruptions whilst I am speaking with Mr. Pettigrew, do you understand me Mr. Black?" She asked, clearly highly agitated with the way this was turning out.

"Yes, Madam Bones, completely."

She nodded towards Peter as if to ask if he had anything else to say. Apparently, he did not and she was cut short as Remus day-dreamed into his world. He starred at the man at the podium as if he wanted to use a muggle gun and shoot him out. Not only had he made the werewolves life horrible, but he had made several others horrible as well.

In addition to leaving Sirius in misery and betraying Lily and James, he'd also murdered his girlfriend, Nymphadora Tonks in broad daylight. He had even gone as far as to make him watch the horrible that was the killing of his girlfriend. He had also tried to kill Harry with help from the Dark Lord, Voldemort and would have succeeded if Remus hadn't been there as a distraction and then gave Harry enough time to blast Peter off of his feet while he was defeated.

And then, of course, Voldemort retreated from the warehouse because he knew he was outnumbered. But that was four months ago and just one month ago he had found himself back in time, trying to re-do his life as he once knew it.

But he was taken from his thoughts into the outside world when Peter started speaking again. Images filled his head once again with pictures of a dog, a rat, a wolf and a stag together while they ran through the Forbidden Forest.

It would never be like that again.

"Madam Bones, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would like to take the Vertisuerem that Remus--"

But after that Remus had refused to listen. The traitor had called him Remus and he knew that he could not handle that. Gripping the desk that was underneath him, he tried to calmly figure this out rationally.

Bad idea.

"You wish to have the Vertisuerem so that we can test you under the charges under the circumstances that have been presented at Mr. Black's trial; is that correct?" Madam Bones asked a little edge in her voice as she asked this.

Peter looked back at Remus who had a scowl on his face the whole time. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to go without killing the little delinquent. He couldn't even imagine what Sirius was feeling at the moment.

"If you would see to it that Mr. Podmore would see to it, would you please Madam Bones?" He asked, glancing at the young wizard in the corner who seemed to be around the age of most of the people in the audience of the trial.

But as soon as this man went up, images of the last battle filled the mind of Remus Lupin, not allowing him to ever be able to get rid of this terrible image that was sunned deep inside his mind….

_It was dark and the night was cool. There was not a single person to be found in the battlefield, but that would come later. Right now, only four people occupied the field, the dark jet black-haired one leading the way. The grass was soft and moist and the ground was hard as stone. The one behind the jet-black haired one began to speak for the first time since they had started to walk over an hour ago._

"_Harry," he said quietly and so distant from the rest of them that the dark-haired one barely ever heard him. There was something about what was going to happen made the black-haired one know tonight was the night._

_No more delaying it._

_The dark-haired man in question was as famous as any muggle singer and the equivalent to Elvis Presley in the muggle world. If you didn't know who he was, you had been living in a rock your entire life. His name was as famous as the back-up story that came along with it. His life story was as famous as the lightning-bolt scar that had made it all happen that October night._

"_Potter!" A voice said silkily in the background as he saw what he knew he was destined to see tonight. The skull-like man ran a finger on Harry's ripped robe and then he turned back to Harry, his voice so low that nobody else could hear it. "We haven't seen each other in so long, where did you learn your manners? I suppose your mother wasn't as good a teacher as most?"_

_Harry tightened the grip on his wand as he heard Voldemort say this to him. But now was not a time for chat, it was a time for action and a time for revenge. As soon as he said those words, Harry heard popping and cracking sounds all over the place. Death Eaters and Arours filled the premises, each shooting spells and disarming their opponents as quickly as the other spell had come._

_Harry quickly noticed that he was not the only starring at the things around him. But as soon as Voldemort realized Harry now had the advantage, he wiped around and turned back to face him. Harry shot the first spell, but Voldemort was quicker._

"_Seems that Dumbledore did teach you to be the perfect little boy, didn't he? His own golden boy for his collection, did he Potter? Well then, I think I'll teach you how a real wizard fights," Voldemort said, as he shot a cutting hex at Harry, awaiting the effects._

"_No need," Harry said as he quickly threw the cutting hex from himself over the battlefield to Voldemort, who was completely unaware that Harry could even dream of doing anything like that. "All I have to do is look in a mirror."_

"_So you are proposing that you are a better wizard than I am Potter? Do you really believe that, because personally I thought you couldn't get any dumber, but this obviously proves me wrong, doesn't it?" He asked, his voice so silky that it made Harry jump practically ten feet out of his skin._

_Just next to the Dark Lord and Harry Potter it seemed that another fight was taking place between the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange and Harry's best girl friend, Hermione Granger. The fight was very gruesome, and it seemed Bellatrix would remote to anything just to kill the girl. At several points, she had flung the Killing Curse and a few Cruccio's, but it seemed that the girl was dodging everything._

_At one point, Bellatrix found a way to deceive the little girl into her death. She had quickly evacuated into the safety of the muggle house just outside Riddle Manor, and had tricked Hermione into following her in their. Once she had, she quickly shut the door with her wand and Hermione broke a window. As she was climbing gout, her wand still on Bellatrix shooting spells, another Death Eater grabbed her by the foot and dragged her by onto the grass._

_How could she have been so stupid?_

_She was quickly killed by Bellatrix's Killing Curse, and was _

_But just a half of a mile farther, another very close duel was taking place between an unidentified Death Eater and Harry Potter's best mate, Ronald Weasley. Of course there was nobody there that could possibly help Ron, because it seemed everyone was fighting their own Death Eater._

_That is why Ron was so thrilled out of his skin when he saw Sturgis Podmore rounding the corner, his wand in hand and his cloak cut and thrown over the back of his neck, as if he was protecting some kind of wound he had just gotten. He smiled fakely at Ron and turned his wand on the Death Eater._

_For a moment it really seemed as if Sturgis would have tried to kill the Death Eater, but alas, nothing of the sort happened. It was lucky that Ron had his wand out and had fast reflexes because just at that moment, the Death Eater wiped out his wand and quickly turned it on Ron._

_Ron had expected Podmore to stop the Death Eater, but instead he stood there feet firmly on the ground, watching the Death Eater with glee and happiness. Ron was so shocked he forgot to shoot spells and was quickly shot down by a curse that was unidentified. He then grabbed his wand after the effects went away and began to shoot spells._

_Ever between the two of them, Ron still stood a chance. Sturgis was much harder to beat and he proved much difficulty for Ron to be able to dodge hexes from. He never killed either of them, but had knocked out the unidentified Death Eater and had given Sturgis a pretty bad head injury._

_So how was Ron killed?_

_After he knocked out Sturgis it seemed that Lucius Malfoy was right behind him, giving himself the element of surprise. Ron was so shocked and wasn't even able to get the words to the spell out before Lucius muttered the Killing Curse, Ron's eyes starring up at the sky, dead._

Sturgis was a Death Eater that had been spying on the Order from the start of his time their. He had come to the Order just three years after the defeat of Lord Voldemort, and nobody had suspected anything of the man. But he had tried to kill Ron, and know he was trying to help Peter back into the service of the Dark Lord.

"I would like a Ministry official to go in their and oversee what they are doing so we can be able to prove that the potion is not being tampered with," Remus said, aware fully of the pale face that now flushed through the hollow eyes of Peter Pettigrew.

"I will check on it," said Madam Bones with a smile to the jury and the council as she left to check on the potion.

Five minutes later when she returned, she came back carrying a potion and having two bodyguards following her, one holding Podmore by his ears and the other one bringing up the rear, sneering at the skinny little man.

"It seems the potion is being tampered with and while we made a new one, we have hereby announced to the public that Black is free of all charges and that his Animagus form will go without punishment and will be registered and he will receive ten thousand galleons as an official apology from the Ministry of magic for him being kept her of no accord."

She then glanced at Peter and Sturgis with a scowl. "These two will remain in the Azkaban Fortress awaiting a trial on the 5th of November. Please evacuate the building without going near either Pettigrew or Podmore. Thank you, and have a pleasant day, from the Ministry of Magic."

"Padfoot?" Remus asked his voice hoarse and so low he doubted Sirius heard him.

"Yeah?" Sirius answered with a grin.

"Welcome home."

* * *

And the winner is Incoming Call! Her character will be placed in the story in the next chapter and I felt this chapter got a little long so I'm going stop it here and go back to Hogwarts next chapter. I know you all really wanted to see it, but it'll have to wait.

And I'm sorry, but I cannot answer reviews questions or reviews right now because I need to get some sleep. Something I have been lacking in the past few days.

-The Real Fourth Marauder-


	7. Love, Lust and Trolls

**Chapter 7: Love, Lust and Trolls**

* * *

In the opinion of most of the population of Hogwarts, it seemed that the days flew by like minutes and the hours flew by like seconds. By the time Harry had been able to get a grip on the time it seemed to slip passed him once again. As soon as it had come, the first month of Hogwarts was over and October was approaching.

The classes were like ever, Snape's constant jeering at the fact that Harry knew everything, and McGonagall's boast about how good he was, and said he was just as good as the average twenty year old. Little did she know…?

Then there was Qurill, who made Harry's scar hurt whenever he even was in the classroom with the man. Of course, he knew this was because he had Voldemort hiding under his turban, and that sure was a cheerful thought, wasn't it? He'd expressed his concerns with Malfoy, but they had both decided he wouldn't do anything….. yet.

Harry could tell that Malfoy was taking a certain liking to a bushy haired, blue eyed girl that was enwrapped in her studies, she didn't even notice. Over the two months at Hogwarts, Harry had learned to tolerate Draco and sometimes look at him as an acquaintance; not ashamed to say you know him, but calling them friends was still a bit far fetched.

Draco and Ron did not get along as Harry had hoped but he decided that he would make them like each other. For both of there goods. Of course, it would take a lot of convincing on both sides, seeing as they hated each other with a flaming passion.

Well, Harry supposed that Ron only disliked because, to put it lightly, he was a Malfoy, simple as that. But Draco, on the other hand, disliked Ron because he knew that this wasn't a life he was used to. But used to or not, Harry knew way deep down Draco enjoyed their company, even though he would never confess it.

The month of October flew by about the same way as the first month. Not much happened, and Harry was getting restless for some adventure. He knew he should be happy that nothing terrible was going on, but really being the Boy-Who-Lived sort of made him actually crave adventure.

Odd, wasn't it?

On October 12th, the trial of Sirius Black was publicized in all the newspapers, even the very odd Quibbler; he was told this courtesy of Luna Lovegood's sixth year older sister, Nicole Lovegood. To be completely honest, Harry had no idea that she even existed. That was a pretty big shocker for him.

A day later he'd gotten a letter from Remus announcing the release of Sirius Black before it even hit the papers! Harry was absolutely thrilled but a bit bummed as well seeing as he wouldn't be able to talk to or see Sirius until Christmas Vacation.

That was, at least until October 19th.

"Harry! Come on, Hedwig's an animal and she'll bite my leg off If I try to tie the parchment off of her, she's pretty keen on you opening it, even though I happen to know exactly who it's from…" Draco said, his lips curling into a vicious smirk.

"Who?" Ron asked, looking up at Draco, and then Harry, "Harry's got a secret admirer?"

Draco burst out laughing, and that was probably the one thing he would laugh at that Ron would say. Once he realized he had just laughed at Ron Weasley's joke, he simply stuffed his mouth with chicken, and ignored him.

"Can you two believe this? Apparently, you two know Sirius Black, right? Well, they think he's innocent, right? I know that Fred and George know something about it; blimey, I can't know right? Who's going to tell Ron, right? Do you two believe he's innocent?" Ron asked, chomping on his breakfast.

"Do you?" Harry asked a little too snappy. He had forgotten that Ron had no idea, and he was being too hard on him. If he didn't know Sirius was innocent, he'd believe the same thing as Ron.

"I suppose, maybe. I mean, the story he tells is quite an interesting one, and being locked up in Azkaban it might have been hard to come up with that elaborate of a story, yeah, unless it was true, yeah? I don't really know what to think? Do you?"

"With every fiber of my being."

* * *

"Hermione! You have to stop crying, do you understand me? That Weasley boy is a right sodding bastard, but he has not right to do this to you! You cannot keep all this bottled up inside of yourself, do you understand me? I… won't let you. That's right, I won't let you," Maya said to her friend, Hermione Granger.

Now Maya was a girl of a past that wasn't exactly publicized. You see, there wasn't anything special about her, but she held a dark secret. One that she wasn't keen on sharing to anyone, including Hermione.

"But it hurts Maya, it really does. Just seeing him that way, it makes me think about things that I really don't want to think about. I don't care what you think about him or not, but all I know is that I don't like him one bit," Hermione said, chomping on an apple and letting all her feelings just slip out of her tiny mouth.

"There's just something about him, isn't there?" Mia asked, taking Hermione's apple, that was practically rotten to the core and throwing it into the trash and Hermione scowled at her. She went over to the waste basket and then through out the paper towel and then came back to her sobbing friend.

"He's an outright git."

There wasn't really much more to say. She leaned against the disposal and then turned back to see her friend wiping her eyes with a tissue. She sighed and opened the stall to the bathroom, without another word.

* * *

"Hey, have you seen Granger, Harry? Weasley was looking for her earlier, and I got no clue were she went. She's an insufferable little girl, isn't she? Crying in bathrooms when trolls attack. Hey, that could be a movie, couldn't it? When trolls attack, directed and edited by Draco Malfoy, screenplay by Harry Potter and starring Hermione Granger and the big fat green mountain troll!"

Sudden realization dawned upon Harry just as he picked up a piece of a cake from the bowl of the cakes in the center of the table. His eyes went wide and he dropped the cake on the floor. "Draco, you do realize what happened on Halloween of our first year, don't you?" Harry asked his eyes still very wide.

"Granger--" he started and then realization dawned on him as well. They both looked at each other, both unwilling to say anything. But neither needed to say anything, for Qurill came bursting into the Great Hall at that moment, repeating the dreaded words from their past.

"Troll! Troll, in the dungeons! Just thought you'd ought to know!"

"I'm going to head off to the Girls Bathroom, and you make sure that you can convince Ron to help you—use any means possible for all I care. He has to be there, though. It's important to there relationship!"

Draco looked as though he'd swallowed a lemon. "Me?" He asked, looking at Harry ludicrously. "Like that'll happen, when was the last time Weasley listened to anything I ever said, yeah?"

"Just do it!" He yelled back and ran out of the Great Hall in the confusion. Just a second after Dumbledore announced that everyone needed to go back to there dormitories. He didn't have much time, and Weasley was with Finnegan; how was he going to talk to him now? He didn't have much time.

"Weasley! I need to talk to you!" Draco said, just as Weasley looked at him with a skeptic look on his face. Draco knew that Weasley would never take any advice from himself, but he thought that it might be worth a try. The youngest boy in the Weasley family gave Seamus an odd look and then marched over to Draco.

"What do you want Malfoy?" He asked, his voice sarcastic and his face with a sneer on it, prominently. "I really do hope that the troll gets to you tonight, don't I Malfoy?"

"Weasley, shut up and stop thinking about yourself. Granger is stuck in the bathroom and the troll just came in and she'll probably get killed if you don't help me. Harry already headed that way and he told me to get you to help."

Now this stumped the youngest male Weasley. He looked at Malfoy in plain English as though this was some sort of weird Malfoy joke he was pulling on him, but no such avail happened. When he quickly realized Malfoy wasn't just playing games with him, he hurried over to the entrance hall and looked back at Draco.

"Your not joking are you?" He asked his voice barely above a whisper.

"I wish I was…"

* * *

Remus and Sirius were both sitting at the dinner table eating all in sight and Remus was pondering the best way to tell his canine friend that he was actually from the future; it would take some explaining and some hard work on Remus' part. Sirius would think it was a joke anyway.

"Padfoot?" Remus asked, chewing on his breakfast cereal. He glanced over at the man on the other side of the table and twitched un-noticeably.

"Yea Moony?" He asked his mouth full of breakfast cereal and milk. He smiled at him whole-heartily, his mouth full of already chewed food. Well, that was Padfoot for you, ladies and gentlemen.

"Harry and I--" he started, but broke off. "Harry and I--" he started again, but failed miserably even more than the first time. "We--" he started again and he could feel his forehead go hot with every word he said. His heart was beating a mile a minute and he stretched up to wipe his brow with his shirt sleeve. "We're not who you think we are."

There; mysterious but not exactly coming plain out and saying anything.

Sirius, after he finished being startled, burst into uncontrollable laughter. Remus gave him a very odd look, but he kept laughing. He couldn't help it, seeing as Remus was so damn funny to him. Remus gave him a skeptical look and put his spoon down, looking him in the eye.

"I'm serious--"

"No, I am!" He said, re-using a joke that hadn't found itself in any topic of Sirius's conversations for at least twelve years. He smiled at him unsurely and then returned to his frosted flakes.

"Because your batman and robin!"

"…"

"Santa Claus and Rudolf!"

"…"

"Barry Manillow and Elvis."

"…"

"Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor."

"…"

"The lead singer and guitarist for the band the Weird Sisters?"

"…"

"Oh, I know," Sirius said, stroking his chin as he thought. "The boy who cried wolf and the wolf!"

This earned a smack upside Sirius's head from his werewolf friend. But Remus' head wasn't filled with revenge or werewolves or Barry Manillow or Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, but rather with the fact that Sirius would never act serious about what he was about to tell him.

Would he ever be able to tell him?

* * *

As Ron and Draco made their way to the bathroom on the second floor, the closest girls bathroom that they knew of. Neville had said Parvati said she was on this one and Draco was told by Harry this was the bathroom that she had been hiding in many years ago, so…

"Malfoy! Move!" Draco heard someone yelling behind him and sure enough a huge twelve foot troll was right behind, a bat in his hand and looking down on him with a very stupid looking grin on his face.

Could trolls grin?

Then the troll bounced past them and then went into the girl's bathroom, leaving Ron and Draco in its wake. Ron had his mouth open and he was too stunned to say anything or to move his body at all. But Draco practically had to push Ron inside the brown doors that opened on the other side to the girl's bathroom.

What Draco hadn't been expecting was that Harry would already be there, trying to distract the huge beast as he motioned for Draco to shoot a spell, any spell.

"_Jivicuious!" _

But the spell backfired and hit the trolls club and was coming straight back at Draco at an much alarming speed. He got ready for the curse when he heard a voice.

"_Impedimenta!" _

It was Granger's voice, Draco was almost sure. The curse slowed down but not enough where he would be able to get out of the way. What he had least expected was for Ron Weasley to get out his wand as quick as possible and take no time as he pointed it at Draco, breathing heavily.

"_Expelliarimus!" _

Draco only saw a flash of greenish/blue light coming from the spell when he was knocked onto the other side of the room. Everything and everyone became black as he was knocked into the wall, feet first.

* * *

A/N: Why'd Ron do what he did? You'll just have to ponder that. Was he trying to hurt Draco or save him from the spell?

Harry-an-ginny: Glad you do!

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Velloutte: Thank you for being the first person to answer the question but I'm sorry, the answer is wrong.

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God: Sorry, but that's not. Thanks for the review!

Ellen: I know I'm neglecting Ron! I promise that I'll try to make up for it.

Hunter…: Thanks! And I'm sorry for not writing your full name, I'm kind of lazy.

Flying a Path around the World: Nice name! You change so often I get excited when I see on the e-mail, I say maybe I'll get to read some more stories, but it's just you! Not that it's a bad thing, but it gets me all exciting. ARG! Anyways, glad you like the chapter name but I'm sorry, that's not the right answer. Thanks for playing!

Hermione21: Now, you were the first one with the answer but you didn't give me anything. So I have to say I'm sorry and I can't give you the spot. Thanks for reviewing.

Eh: Odd sense of humor…. Lol. Glad you liked it!

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Incoming Call: CONGRATUALATIONS! You are the winner of the competition. Now, I'd just like to go over a few things. I'd gladly use this character and I actually already have a plan for her, but one thing.

You said she has purple eyes, and that isn't working for me. It's just too Mary-Sue. I hope that doesn't take out her charrie too much. Other than that, she's great! And lastly, romantic relations. She is your character, so do you have any preference. If not, I'll choose. Glad you like it!

Crysania Fay: You got it right but one review late! Sorry. Glad you like it and thanks for playing.

Mymayornoway: Glad you like it! Dumbledore, interesting.

Femaleprongslet: Interesting view I have to say! Mad eye and Tonks… hmmmmmm….

I'll have to finish reviews later but thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you guys!

-Silver Alpha Wolf-


	8. Of Memories and Dirty Little Secrets 1

_Of Memories and Dirty Little Secrets Part 1_

* * *

It had been two days since the incident in the bathroom, and Draco had only just woken up. Ron had felt horrible the whole time, but everyone reassured him that he had done the right thing. It was simply just reflex, even though Ron didn't know what the spell had meant.

Harry knew however, that the spell Draco had used was very overage dark magic and if it had rebounded and hit him, it easily could have paralyzed him for life, or even possibly killed him. Even so, Ron was still afraid to visit Draco when he had woken up, but Harry had practically cornered Ron into going. Hermione and her friend Maya were spending a lot more time with Harry and Ron and Harry could tell that Ron wasn't all that sure he was comfortable about it.

When they entered the Hospital Wing, Ron was breathing very heavily and Madam Pomphrey took them in to see Draco on the other side of the wing. When Draco saw Harry he smiled weakly, and when he also saw that Hermione and her friend Maya had accompanied him, he looked at Harry quizzingly. However when he saw Ron, he looked shocked.

"Weasley," he started, taking a breath and not exactly knowing how to say this, "you saved my life."

"I did?"

"Yeah; I know that you probably don't have any idea what that spell did, but, I guess I wanted to thank you for saving me from it. I know what would have happened if it had rebounded against me, and let's just say I was scared, for once in my life."

"Well, thanks Malfoy. I guess it was just sort of reflex and well--"

"Weasley?"

"Yeah?"

"My names Draco," he said with a small smile/smirk. They both looked at each other for a while and nobody said anything for a very long time. Finally, after a long silence Ron put his hand on his neck and thought for a long time about what Draco had said.

"Mine's Ron," he said, a hint of awkwardness in the air. He wasn't sure exactly what to think, and again there was a long silence. Everyone could tell that Harry was extremely happy at how this had turned out but even Hermione was a bit skeptical when it came to the spell Draco had used. "It'd be nice if used it."

"What I don't understand is how Draco knew the spell in the first place," Hermione said, putting a hand threw her hair as she studied it from every angle, "and even if he did know it, why on earth would he use a spell like that? I looked it up in the library Restricted Section and I know what it does; how could you possibly know that spell, let alone use it!"

"I wasn't thinking… it's like a reflex."

"A reflex to use dark magic! That's overage wizardry, and you know it! I can tell that Harry knows it to, and I don't understand why either of you are calm with this! Either you tell me how and why you used that spell or I report you to Dumbledore!"

"I don't want to go to Azkaban, Harry--"

"I know--"

"I know I deserve it but--"

"It's the spell that we used to defeat Voldemort, alright? I can't say I don't think its dark magic, but you after all were the one that told us dark magic is not labeled by society, but it is labeled by the intention of the person casting it—Draco's intention was not evil by any means--"

"Harry, what the hell are you doing!"

"Telling them the truth, Draco; they deserve to know the truth."

"We'll be locked up in Azkaban forever," Draco said, taking another breath, "You, me and the werewolf, for a life time I'll bet!"

"His name is Remus!"

"Does it matter?" Draco asked, rubbing his chin with his hand. "Can you trust this people?"

"I trust Ron and Hermione with my life."

"Not these people! The old Ron and Hermione, who are dead! You can't presume that they'll keep our secret, Harry! I'm scared for once in my life, and I've never been this terrified. It comes pretty close to having to try to kill Dumbledore!"

"I know that you don't want to tell them anything… but you're telling them a lot more than I think you had planned to tell them." All three of the occupants were looking at them in awestruck, Hermione had her hand over her mouth, Ron was gaping wide-eyed, and Maya looked extremely confused. "Look Draco, it's time that I stop lying to them, all of them."

"It's your choice, but just remember, it's our future."

"I'd rather not tell them actually, I'd rather show them." Harry had taken a pensive from under the desk and put it on top of the desk. He nodded towards Draco and Draco looked as though he was slowly going through a though decision. He then nodded, and asked Harry,

"What do we put in it?"

"Our sorting, our relationship between each other, one big event from each year, Ron and Hermione's first date, and the final battle; can you do that?"

"I can try--"

Harry turned to the group and slowly approached all of them. "If you haven't figured it out yet, we are both from the future and are both eighteen years old. This may frighten you, but both Ron and Hermione were both my best friends through the years at Hogwarts after the three of us killed the troll together. What we are about to show you is highly to be kept to yourselves and you must understand that we came here for a reason and you will see that when you see the memories. Also, don't get to mad at Draco when you see these memories, he's really a good person; he just sued to be a big prat and a twit. He was being pressured by his father, and you shouldn't judge him for that. If you have any doubts, you should know that pensives cannot be tampered with and we are defiantly not Death Eaters trying to hurt you."

"And now, if I can present, the life you never knew you had--"

They were all surrounded by darkness and the first they saw that they were on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. A small boy with jet-black hair that looked identical to Harry, only a lot more timid was strolling a cart along the platform when he heard a voice—

"_Packed with muggles of course--"_

"That sounds like my mum," Ron said in awe as he looked to the pensive. "And that's me—but I'm standing right here, how can I be over there as well!"

"It's a pensive," he heard Hermione saying to Ron, "It shows you memories but you can still watch them as an outsider, and they can't see or hear you."

"_Now what's the platform number?"_

"_Nine and three quarters!" Said a little girl in the far corner, holding the mothers hand, "Mom, can't I go?"_

"_Your not old enough Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you first."_

"_Fred, you next."_

"_I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy who was standing right next to her, "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"_

"_Sorry, George, dear."_

"_Only joking, I am Fred."_

"_Excuse me," Harry said._

"This is getting much too creepy for me," Maya said, and was almost ready to leave when she was pulled back down by Harry.

"Please stay, I want to show you all everything."

"_Hello dear," she said nicely. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too."_

"This never happened--"

"_Yes. The thing is, I don't know how to--"_

"_How to get on the platform? Not to worry, all you have to do is walk straight between barrier nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous--"_

But all the sudden, the memory went black and instantly another one came on, and Harry was sure that this one was going to be Draco's sorting. After all, he was right and he quickly heard McGonagall call Draco's name on the podium.

"_Malfoy, Draco."_

Every one of the five turned there heads to see a very more smug Draco Malfoy come to the podium and they could hear the sorting hat speaking in his ear.

"_Hello--"_

"_Slytherin, say it."_

"_I see that you do not want to be sorted, do you Mr. Malfoy? Ah well, I rather not have my seams ripped by Lucius Malfoy anyhow. Pity, you would have made an excellent Gryffindor--"_

"_SLYTHERIN!"_

The scene went black once again and it was replaced by another memory.

"_Potter, Harry!"_

"_Potter, did she say?"_

"_THE Harry Potter?"_

"_Hmm… Difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent—oh my goodness, yes, and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting…So, where to put you?"_

"_Not Slytherin…"_

"_Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all up here in your head, and Slytheirn will help you on your way to greatness, no doubt about that—no? Well if you're sure—better be, Gryffindor!"_

"I think we've seen enough--" Ron said, pulling himself out of the pensive. "Why don't you tell us about your years at Hogwarts, instead of showing us? It would take a lot of less time, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose. Well, in first year after that happened nothing really happened until Halloween when the troll was let in by Professor Qurill and Hermione almost got killed. Ron saved her and I knocked out the troll and we've been best friends ever since. Later on Christmas I received my father's invisibility Cloak and we went on a lot of journeys with that. Later on, Hermione figured out that Nicholas Flamel was the maker of the Philosophers Stone which Voldemort--"

Maya and Ron both shivered at the exact same time.

"Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself."

"You had an Invisibility Cloak?" Draco asked, rubbing his chin.

"So not the time," Harry said, very agitated. "Anyways, after we figured that out we believed that Professor Snape had been the one who had stolen the Stone for Voldemort because we thought he tried to kill me during the Qudditch Match when he was really trying to save me. We had to beat a Devil's Snare, fly on a broomstick to catch a key, play a giant life-sized game of chess, and pick the correct potion to get us through the flames and then I had to battle Qurill by myself who was hiding Voldemort under his turban all year."

Harry could feel the tension in the room breaking.

"In second year, when I returned home from the Dursleys I believed that you both abandoned me because I didn't get any mail, but it turned out that Dobby the houself was taking all my mail to make me not want to go back to Hogwarts. Ron and I couldn't get on the train because the barrier had sealed itself so instead we took the flying car. We almost got expelled if McGonagall hadn't given us enough chance. Draco and I had a dueling in Dueling Club and we had Lockhart as a Professor. All the students were being petrified because a basilisk was petrifying all the muggle-born students in the school. Hermione was petrified and Ron and I had to go and fight Voldemort ourselves. It turns out that Voldemort was using a diary to possess Ron's sister Ginny with his sixteen year-old self. We destroyed the diary and killed the basilisk."

"In third year, Voldemort laid low for a while and Sirius broke out of Azkaban. He then broke into Hogwarts and got past the dementors, which was what was guarding the school in his animagus form, because as a dog he wasn't affected by the dementors. He captured us and Professor Lupin, Remus, who was our D.A.D.A. Professor came and they explained how Scabbers the rat was really Peter Pettigrew hiding out as a rat after he framed Sirius. I was going to live with Sirius, but since Remus was a werewolf Peter got away while he was transforming. Hermione and I had to go back in time to save Sirius."

Harry knew this was all a bit much for them to handle, but he never expected that Hermione, one of the toughest and bravest girls he knew would faint in the middle of the floor.

* * *

"Hermione? May I come in?"

Hermione had been taking in this overwhelming amount of information when she heard a knock on her door. She heard the familiar voice of Ron Weasley at the doors end and she wasn't sure what to think. She rolled on her back and got up slowly. She reached for the door handle and yanked it open. "Hello, Ron."

"I wanted to talk to you about all of this if I could. I know its overwhelming; believe me, if you hadn't fainted when you did it probably would have been me only several minutes later. Do you believe them?"

"I do, Ron. Pensives, as Harry said, cannot be tampered with and all the memories in them have to be true for them to be seen. There is no way that it could have possibly been tampered with at all; it would have been impossible." She took a deep breath and sighed.

"I wanted to apologize for the stupid and rash way I acted towards you in the beginning of the semester. I really didn't realize how much of a prat I was, and I have to admit, you're a pretty cool person, and I'm pretty stupid for judging you like that," he said, his cheeks almost as red as his hair.

"Don't worry about it," she said softly as she sat on the bed.

A knock at the door startled them both and Hermione began to get up when Ron shook his head. He reached for the doorknob and gave it a quick twist before he opened to the door to reveal Draco standing on the other side of the door. He looked sad and almost apologetic and very odd without a smirk on his face and he turned to Ron and nodded.

"Do you think I could have a moment with Hermione alone?" He asked Ron, stepping into the room, and looking into the light as Ron nodded. After Ron had shut the door, Draco realized how uncomfortable Hermione must have been right now.

"I promise I didn't come here to hurt you, but to explain myself," he said, his voice raspy but not harsh in any way. When I was raised by my father, I didn't know my right from wrong, and it's very hard. I'm not trying to tell you that I thought I wasn't a prick, because I was. I should have never done what I did or say what I said to you, and I don't even know why I'm telling you this; you have no idea what I'm talking about anyway, do you?"

"I can imagine what you would've been like--"

"But I've changed--"

"I can see--"

"I'm actually quite scared of what's happening. Little be little, without be knowing, I've realized that I'm falling for you Hermione--"

"Talk about an age difference--"

"You don't know me, and I know that, but I know one thing, that I do love you. No matter how many times I tried to deny it was still so true; I tried to kill Bellatrix, my Aunt, because she killed you before I came back in time; and that's when I realized it--"

But Hermione cut Draco off immediately. Not with her words, but with her mouth. She pulled him close to her tight, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Were not talking here a peck on the lips that a five year-old might make for a dare, but something that truly actually meant something.

* * *

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. Here are your reviews:

WerewolfoftheDamned: Thank you very much!

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Anna: Thank you, I will!

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Sturgis Podmore: Me too. Just remember the name. Thanks.

Snuffles Is My Idol: As you wish.

HoshiHikari: My, you ask too many questions. Be patient, young grasshopper. Jk.

Padfoot's Sidekick: There only for you.

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DDwelling: Only if you pass the salt… and the Remus.

Writerlover101: Maybe… maybe not.

Shadow00: Interesting thought….

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Crysiana Fay: Nah… I just like making you think you're crazy.

Soelle: Me too!

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Zarz: Wait and see young grasshopper.

Devilish dragon: Your wish is my command.

ScrewyLouie12: Thanks! Love the name.

Until Next Time,

-Silver Alpha Wolf-


	9. Interlude 1

_Interlude 1: Christmas', Adoptions and a Snake_

-----------

It had been a while since Sirius and Remus had really talked. October had soon turned into a chilling November season. Every day Remus and Sirius came more comfortable with each other, but they never talked about Harry, or the lives they used to have. Both of them knew that they couldn't possibly make themselves think that way. Sirius was not ready to face the cold dead truth that his best friend was dead, and his wife, the women he loved, had left him.

So they lived an oblivious life to the outside world. They rarely ever made any trips to Diagon Alley and mostly stayed inside the house in their own perfect world. The perfect way to fool themselves into believing that there was only them.

Neither had actually heard back from Harry yet, and they were both getting a bit worried. What was going on with him and why was he not returning their owls?

They had gotten into a nice morning routine, where Sirius would get up and cook the meals with his wand, while Remus would complain that Sirius should learn how to cook without a wand needed. They both lived in a fantasy world that they desperately wanted out of but couldn't think of the consequences of those actions if they did so.

"Anything interesting?"

"If you're asking, another report was filed and a complaint to the Ministry of Magic about letting you go during your trial and how the man 'Pettigrew' was indeed a fake death eater who was a rat animagus and the whole thing was set up. A few of them believe that Fred and George are working alliances with the Death Eaters and the whole Weasley family has come up with interviews and complaints from guess who filed this one…"

"Malfoy…"

"Who else would file a complaint like that for no legitimate reason?"

As Remus scanned the rest of the page, he stopped in horror and fear flooded him. He felt it hard to breathe when Sirius came over and patted his back. "I'm not choking you idiot!" He then threw the paper at Sirius, still unable to breathe correctly.

"Adopt him?"

The air in the room was suddenly very thick and neither of them spoke. "What are we going to do?" Sirius asked, as he scanned the page.

_**December 9th, 1991**_

_**Marcus Amyby**_

_**Today, Lucius Malfoy himself came to the Ministry and declared an adoption for young wizarding worlds hero, little Harry Potter. Many of us believe that Harry is not safe in the hands of an ex-convict and the werewolf, Remus Lupin that have been living with them. Spies from the ministry have seen Black and Harry in Diagon Alley and they say that the little one is being hurt by Black and is very scared of him. If we don't give little Harry Potter a chance to get away from Black, who says Black is any better for him than his abusive muggle relatives?**_

**_A hearing has been declared on December 24th, Christmas Eve, to determine where Harry Potter will be placed. The Ministry is now accepting applications of adoption up until the twentieth of December. Also, if Sirius Black or Remus Lupin is reading this, they may not apply for Harry Potter's guardianship again, as it will be dismissed. _**

**_However, we are taking into affect the Potters last wishes, and are allowing their will to be stated. The first guardianship of Harry Potter went to Sirius Black and Christina Deinero-Lupin. Sirius Black is being charged with being a possible convict, so he is incapable. Christina Deinero-Lupin has been dead for ten and a half years, so this is also incapable. The second stage went to Remus Lupin and Jacqueline Koren-Black. Remus Lupin is a werewolf so is obviously incapable; Jacqueline Black is capable of guardianship, but nobody has heard or seen from her since the attack on Godric's Hollow._**

_**Therefore, if Jacqueline Black requests guardianship of Mr. Potter, she will be warranted a lifetime guardianship until the age of seventeen. However, if she does not appear, the judges will decide between the applicants.**_

Remus looked up at Sirius and nodded. "You do understand what we have to do to get Harry back right?"

"She could be anywhere! It's practically impossible."

"Sirius? I believe it's time to take a trip… to Sacramento, California."

-----------------

On the morning of December 9th, two things were delivered to the table that were both shocking and unnerving to Harry and the rest of the group. First, when Hermione found a stunning adoption in the paper, it left Harry stun-struck. Draco was ranting about his stupid father, and Ron and Maya were talking in hushed voices. However, when the other message came, Harry fears were confirmed.

_**Dear Pup,**_

_**Padfoot and I have to go to California to find someone important and I need to rest assured we won't give you up to blond loser who uses too much hair gel, or anyone else for that matter.**_

_**Good looking out pup,**_

_**Moony**_

Everyone looked quizzingly at Draco and Harry when Draco read that. Harry tilted his head to one side, and realized that they had no idea who Padfoot or Moony was. "Moony is Remus' nickname, and Padfoot is Sirius'; I believe the blond loser is Lucius and if my suspscpisions are correct, I believe they will try to go and find Jacqueline Black, Sirius' late wife."

"She's the woman from the article. She's the only one who is guaranteed your guardianship," Hermione realized as she read through the article again.

"I have reason to believe that is why they went…"

------------------

"Here are your boarding passes, sirs, and thank you for using British Airways. Your plane departs in exactly twenty-eight minutes so I suggest you two get your move on, yeah? Thank you again for using the airway voted best service and fastest transportation in Britain, and have a good flight."

"Thank you, we will," Remus said, stuffing the boarding passes into his pocket and facing Sirius once again, returning the scowl plastered on his face.

"I don't see why we have to use muggle transportation in the first place, Remus. If we just flooed there, it would make our lives a hell of a lot easier, wouldn't it?"

"First off, where would floo too? We don't know where were headed off to in the first place. It's not like we can just pick a place, and then say Sacramento, California, we'll get lost in the stream and be killed. Sound like fun to you? Second, maybe if we arrive by plane, it'll calm her down a bit. Obviously, she doesn't want to reminded of her past, so if we stay as muggle as possible, it could calm her down. Third, I already paid for it."

"What ever you say, Moony."

An hour and forty-eight minutes later

"You'd think they'd have peanuts, right? Every time that you hear a story about a plane, you hear about peanuts, if you ask what they serve. All they serve on this plane is stale chips and cookies and water that tastes like it came from an oil pipe."

"Is there a problem sir?" One of the stewardesses came up to Sirius and looked at him oddly. Sirius was oddly at a fetch for words, and Remus was bemused watching him fail to talk to the pretty girl. His mouth was open, but nothing was open. The lights were on but nobody's home…

"No problem Miss, thank you."

Two hours and ten minutes later

"Who knew that plane rides from England to America were so long… I remember that time that James and I had to go on a plane to meet his Aunt Emily in Texas, and it felt like the longest ride of my life. We played tic tac toe, dominoes and pick-up sticks five times each the way there. We also stole a ladies fellytone and made prank phone calls to people we didn't know--"

"Telephone, Sirius. I know; you called me twelve times on the plane from Britain to New York, and seven times on the plane to New York to Texas. Might I add in America it was eleven o' clock at night where you were, and it was two in the morning in Britain."

"We called Pete too."

"I remember; he practically nailed you the next time he saw you because his mother grounded him for a month for talking after eleven."

---------------------

"Remember, only twelve days left, Harry."

"Potter--"

"Don't know if I can make that, buddy," Harry said exhausted, as he rolled up his left sleeve and his right at the same time to have some comfort in the steaming hot dungeons. The dungeons, usually being cold, where at the bottom of the school, and were normally very chilly in the winter, so Dumbledore decided that he should use some warming charms to make it hotter, but it turned out hot was much worse of an air than cold was, and Snape wasn't making the experience any better.

"Potter, are you listening to me?"

"Sure are Professor; you were saying something about potions…"

Harry could hear Ron and Draco silently sniggering to themselves, Maya sighing in the background and Hermione giving him a death glare that could have made Lord Voldemort piss himself.

"Detention, Potter. Tomorrow night at Seven o'clock; and for your foolishness all of your house will be receiving extra homework as well as sixty points."

"Extra homework and sixty points?" Ron asked, completely outraged.

"Now it's eighty, Mr. Weasley. Also, as an added bonus, for your sniggering you and Mr. Malfoy will be accompanying Mr. Potter in detention tomorrow at '7. Be late, and only more will come."

"No wonder he doesn't have a lover…" Draco said as they were out of ear-shot of the dungeon.

"Well I'm just as flat out of a lover as he is…"

"What about Gi--"

"Ow! What the hell was that for!" And then reality sunk in.

"But the difference is," Draco said, trying to break the tension and make Ron forget, "He's got thirty years and a couple a' pounds on him. Not to mention some ugly-ass hair."

Draco could visibly see Harry mouth, 'You owe me one.'

Harry and Draco had to fake a laugh with Ron all the way up to the dorm.

-----------------------

A/N: I'm so sorry it's so damn short. I'm in a writers block here, people.

Next time:

_Interlude 2: Christmas', Adoptions and a Snake_

_Remus and Sirius arrive in California, but will they find what they need too? Harry has a hard time in detention and finally blows his stack, it's getting nearer and nearer to the trial and Hermione is acting odd around Draco. Harry thinks Maya is acting suspicious, but Ron notices nothing, and adores her. And will Harry finally tell Ron about he and Ginny?_

_Reviews, people. They're what make me keep writing._

_Yrl: There is going to be awkward moments and realization between Ron and Hermione, but no triangles, not as I planned it anyway._

_Snuffles Is My Idol: Thanks!_

_Emerald Cat: Information…Makes it seem like the F.B.I._

_HoshiHikari: Who knows? Anything could happen. And I never said no more questions, I like questions…_

_Bandqsecurtiyaw: Neither can I! Also, if you read this, would you mind explaining your name to me…It puzzles me, seriously._

_Poke-me-I'm-Strange- Thanks! Out of all the names I've seen, yours is my favorite._

_Drama Queen Girl: Just have to wait…_

_PSTurner: Thanks for the review. And with Ron's romances, you're on the right track…_

_SezTheMistrissofDarkness: Thanks. You come up with the weirdest names. Not that it's a bad thing…_

_GalazyStorm: Well, isn't Everyone. Thanks._

_SilverofMelody: Isn't it?_

_Whatever: 'Mione's not a normal eleven year old girl…_

_Padfoot's Sidekick: Hermione sure knows what she wants…_

_Incoming Call: No problem. And I'm going to keep you wondering, just like the others. It's all in good suspense. I've got a good plan for her, don't you worry._

_Oalf74: Marvelous. Why thank you._

_DramaQueenGirl: Wow. Thank you for all the reviews. I think I get the point now, lol._

_Harryginny01: I guess your right. They are a tad short, but I do what I can, right? Glad you like it though._

_Until next time my wonderous reviewers,_

_-Silver Alpha Wolf-_


	10. Interlude 2

_Interlude 2: Christmas', Adoptions and a Snake_

---------------------

"Can I help you boys?" The sound of an older woman's voice made Remus and Sirius jump almost out of their skin. "You seem new around here, and I was wondering If I could help you find something." Remus surveyed the fifty-year old woman before giving a glance toward Sirius. Sirius knew it wouldn't hurt, but he felt oddly irritated by the older kind woman.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Sirius said, the smile vanished from his face, "We were wondering if you knew a woman by the name of Jacqueline, probably goes by Koren or possibly still Black? About medium height, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes; she'd have just turned thirty-three on the first of October…"

"As a matter of fact boys, you're in luck; she stays in my house and rents out the third floor. Lovely girl, I must say, are you two related to her? I'm headed on my way back to the ole' place right now, would you two care to tag along?"

"Relatives, sort of; as for tagging along, we would love too, thank you very much," Remus said trying as hard as he could not to look odd about seeing Jackie for the first time in ten years, and yet trying to keep the façade up long enough to make the woman seem as if Jackie was expecting us.

They walked for at least a mile before they came upon a large house with a nice flower bed garden, the perfect place that they both knew Jackie would love. The stables next to the house were embroided in red like a typical muggle barn and the pond just outside was perfect for fishing, another muggle activity that Jackie was much into when they were back in Hogwarts. She had made Sirius get stables at their house so that she could have a place to put her horse. He briefly wondered whatever happened to that horse.

"This is your house?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, it is. How'd you know?"

"Seems enough like Jackie's taste," Sirius said, taking a strong whiff of the smell of roses around the house that he knew were Jackie's favorite. They had been the flowers she had persisted on at their wedding, and Sirius was inclined not to argue with Jackie, it never brought any good.

"Are you familiar with Albus Dumbledore?"

As she saw the odd looks on her face, she quickly regretted it and moved on quickly. "Oh, well, I thought you might know of him, but obviously not. He's a Headmaster of a boarding school up in the north, for... creative writing, yes. I know a few people who went there and I can clearly tell you're from Engl--" She hammered on, looking sickly ill.

"Stop," Sirius said, looking shaken, "We know who he is. Don't have a cow. We thought you were a muggle, the utmost apologizes, madam."

"You're Sirius Black, aren't you?"

"What, me, Sirius Black, oh no, I'm not. You must be mistaking me for the wrong person; I think that you should check before accusing someone of something like that…"

"Calm down, Black! I've had lunch with Albus Dumbledore for the past twelve years and I used to know Jackie from back when she was in Hogwarts. I used to live in England you see, and she used to tell me all about you. I never believed you were guilty, I knew it was Pettigrew. She still doesn't believe me. And you--" she said, directing her attention towards Remus, "must be Remus Lupin."

"How?"

"Process of elimination."

"Sirius, mate, I think you should hide in that bush until I calm her down and then I'll let her see you, alright? But right know, I think its best if she only sees me, don't you agree?"

"Whatever Moony, go on ahead."

Sirius shivered silently as Remus made his way to the door. There was not much that could have calmed him down at that moment; or anything for that matter; seeing as he was so nervous that a large bowl of Remus' chocolate couldn't at that moment, make him scream out in joy. The old woman of whom he still did not have a name for looked at him oddly as he picked up a radish and nibbled on tensely, looking up and down at her front porch, straining to hear words. He quickly put the radish down as he heard the soft and dreamy voice of his one and only true love.

"Remus? What are you--"

"You haven't seen me in quite a long time have you, Jackie? I haven't seen you either, but I knew I'd find you here. It was your favorite place in the world as a teenager. You said to me when I was tutoring you in DADA that if you could live any place that wasn't England, it would be here," he said, breaking off, his voice hoarse and his entire body sweating more than he ever thought possible.

"I don't understand--"

"You don't need to, but what you do need to do is to listen to me. Many people might have given you information that was truly wrong, but we are in a grave situation here--"

"We?"

"Jackie--"

"Where is he? I might as well get this over with before I faint. Plus, I'm feeling a little dizzy and light headed right now, but you better take his wand away! I will not a convict in my house, no matter what you say about him to make me think he's innocent. I want a full and true story before he even sits on my couch with his filthy bottom, do you hear me loud and clear Mr. Lupin!"

"Loud and clear, pet."

His voice was hoarse and sounded much older, and the sarcasm was strained, but she could tell all the while it had come from her ex-lover. The room was suddenly eerily quiet and the air was suddenly crisper that it had once been only a moment before. Remus and the older woman looked at each other in confusion as they starred wide eyed at each other.

It took Jackie only a second to realize that Sirius looked much different than he did before he was taken to Azkaban. It was obvious that he was wearing one of Remus' robes, granted he didn't have any, and although they were a bit short on him it looked fine all the same. Under the dark blue robe with tints of silver laid a grayish looking sweater, something that she had only seen Remus wear outside of school. His hair was cut shorter than back in day of their romances; although she could easily tell that his hair was much greasier than it had once been. It probably had to do with not taking a shower in ten years; although, his hair was cut shorter than he usually liked it, so the greasiness was not very noticeable. His eyes were much worn out than they had once been, and the had the same handsome features, but they were droopy and tired looking, like he had been through much more than she had expected.

He looked at Jackie as though she was the same person she had been ten years ago. She had the same facial features, although her hair ran a little shorter than it used to, but other than that, she looked like she hadn't aged in ten years. The only thing that set him off was the tiredness of her eyes.

"I'm back," he whispered so quietly that only the older woman next to him heard. But Jackie understood and nodded her eyes and her head frozen in fear. Nobody moved for at least three minutes while Remus whistled into the crisp night air.

"Why now?"

"What?"

"After all these years of turmoil and grief; all the years of thinking about me, why is it you only got me now, Sirius?"

"I believe it was because I loved you, and I was trying to protect you. That, and, of course the fact that I had been stuck in Azkaban for almost ten years; that was, of course, a minor setback in seeing you. However, we aren't here on pleasure--"

"Tell me why you're here then and go," she said, her voice sounding panicked and in a very low whisper.

"Lucius Malfoy is going to adopt Harry, and I can't do anything to stop it," Sirius said in barely above a whisper, so quietly that someone could hear a pin drop better than they could hear his voice. Jackie however, had always been the amazing listener and had been able to hear things a mile away. Sirius used to say that put him off because he couldn't complain about his wife in public because she would hear him, no matter how far away she was, and no matter how many miles.

Now though, she was frozen stiff, confined to the small thought of Harry being taken and molded by Lucius Malfoy, the man she had always hated the most. The man that they had made fun of, and the man that had ruined her life more than once.

"I knew all along, Sirius."

"What?"

"About Pettigrew, I mean," she said, her voice shaky and her body swaying. "I couldn't admit to myself that I was leaving you for my own selfish reasons so I forced myself to believe all the evidence I found of Peter being the secret keeper was wrong, and that you really were a murderer, I couldn't face the truth of my love being in Azkaban, and I, powerless to do anything or even try to step up and say something to the government. Their corrupt and I can't find a way around it."

"You knew?"

She nodded.

"All along, when I was in Azkaban?"

She nodded again.

"Why didn't you break me out? Why did you leave me there?"

At this, she began to cry.

As he turned to leave she stopped him, and yelled safely to him, "I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"But what about--," Sirius said, mentioned the older woman for the first time who was sitting on her porch reading old magazine articles that had so much lint on them that he suspected that they had once been sitting in the way far back of her attic. Her smile was large enough to make anyone's spirits be lifted, but it turned into a slight frown.

"Don't worry young Black, I'll be fine. Jackie needs to find her own life, whereas I've already lived mine. I'll come back and visit, young Black, I promise."

"Promise?" Jackie asked, her voice sounded like it was blocked by a very large lump in her throat. She had admired this woman so much throughout her years, and she had no idea what she would have done without her. There was so much that she had been remembered for, and she had been a big help when Jackie was new and looking for work, anywhere, but her skills were limited. That's why she needed so much help, and this woman the biggest inspiration ever.

"Promise," she said, smiling widely.

_---------------------------_

It had been days since the group had last heard from Remus and Sirius, and they were right now on a plane headed back to Britain, just in time for the trial. Harry had said so many goodbyes in the past hour that he felt his throat go numb and his body go stiff as a board. Ron and Draco were laughing about something Dean Thomas had said when the first mail had arrived.

Addressed to Draco, everyone crowded around him to see what it was. Maya, since she was sitting next him, let out a small gasp of gratitude and of comfort, Ron starred dumbstruck and Hermione gently tried to reassure him about the letter.

"What?" Harry asked, unnotified.

"It's different this time around, I've been disowned."

"Oh man, that must suck--"

"Not really, I mean, it's what I came back for, right? I came back to prove I wasn't my father, I think disowning is at the top of this line isn't it?" His face swelled up like a balloon and he let one tear drop from his rosy cheek. "I guess this means I succeeded, right?"

"It'll be alright, Draco, it will," Maya said, putting her fingers in a tight knot of amenity. She was almost curious as to how she knew that it was coming, and the gesture was fake. Harry eyed her suspiciously but let his suspicions cease as they climbed into the compartment of the Hogwarts Express.

The ride back was very dull, boring and almost extremely mortifyingly boring. If Padfoot were here, he'd run up to them and spray them a muggle water gun, put a whoopee cushion under their chair, or make them eat something that would sprout horns or something just as ridiculously stupid that Remus was think was inappropriate and 'utterly child-like behavior.'

Harry almost laughed out loud.

When he saw Remus and Sirius as the train stopped, his heart skipped a beat.

---------------------------------

The trial ceased to exist, and nobody spoke of it until around Christmas time. Remus and Sirius had just come from the Ministry Office of Regulation of Housing of Underage Minors, where they had escorted Jackie to file out the papers to become Harry's guardian. When they arrived home, they were greeted with much enthusiasm.

Everyone there had congratulated them on their great success (Moody, Tonks, Mrs. And Mr. Weasley, and surprisingly the old woman from Sacramento), while the children (Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Maya and Ginny, who had come with the Weasley family) were bouncing with enjoyment and happiness.

Harry had been surprised to hear that Maya had no place to go this summer, but it had only raised his suspicions about her one step higher. Of course, she had been invited to Grimmuald Place.

"Harry, meet your new mommy, Jackie."

"Hi," Harry said in an attempt to sound like a baby voice, "mummy."

"Don't push it Prongslet."

The next few days went over well, and everyone forgot about Draco's disownment, Lucius Malfoy, snakes, adoptions, and focused on Christmas. That night, they had had a huge party out on the huge background, and everyone forgot why they were stressed.

"Draco, are you having fun?"

"Are you, dear 'Mione?"

"Tons," she answered back, sniggering silently. She looked up at Draco to see he was smiling back down at her, and she adjusted a bit so that she now sat on his lap as he drank his butterbeer. He looked into her eyes and she looked into to his, and like it was planned in a romance novel, they both kissed at the same time. They closed their eyes and tried to see outside the lines.

"I like you, Draco Malfoy."

"That's too bad," he said silently, kissing her, and taking a breath, "because I love you."

On the other side of the room, just five minutes before midnight, Ron and Maya sat in another corner playing chess. "Check, and Mate," Ron muttered, moving his piece around the board in a victory dance.

"You're cute when you win."

"Then you better forfeit more often, shouldn't you?"

She then leaned in to him and then kissed him. He didn't know how to react, but she put her hands on his neck, and pulled him closer to her. She leaned into his ear and whispered so quietly she thought hew couldn't hear a thing she was saying, "Merry Christmas, Ron Weasley."

"Merry Christmas, Mayan-Mai Elad."

She hadn't even thought about the fact he knew her full name.

At that moment, cheers came through the hall and the ringing voice of Sirius Black boomed through the entire house,

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

---------------------------

A/N: Hoped you liked it. I'm so tried if I did reviews I'd kill myself, and then there'd be no story. Oh crap. Exactly, so please, don't pity me. I need sleep, I've been deprived.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Everyone ever heard of Christmas in September?

Maybe Christmas in July, and December, but…

September?

Oh well, this is my fan fiction, and I made the rules.

Seriously Sirius Marauder


	11. Of Memories and Dirty Little Secrets 2

_Part 1: Memories and Dirty Little Secrets 2_

--------

**Third Person: Harry**

The days after Christmas soon came around, and before the kids knew it, the school year was about to start up again. Sirius and Remus were both a little sad to see the children go, but they knew that they needed to get on with their lives, and fast.

Harry got up, with a bump and an ache on his forehead. He was sure he would go back to Hogwarts today, but he needed some more time to sleep. Draco had gotten him up fifteen minutes ago, but he didn't really care much. For today, he was going to have a good time, and he would start with something he hadn't down in about fifteen years; sleep in.

Breakfast was already out, he knew because he could smell it, and he could smell anything, from anywhere and any amount of it. He had always thought he had a good keen sense of smell. Ron had nicknamed him 'the dog', but of course, that was in his other life.

The one non-existent to his own.

Thinking about his other life, he began to question Maya. He of course, did not know her before. This means she might have been from a different house, but Draco, Remus or himself had to have met her and done something so she would be in Gryffindor, and Hermione's friend. It really didn't make any sense to him at all.

But the more he thought about Maya, the more he thought about Ron. The more he thought of Ron, the more he thought of food. He heard his stomach growl from inside the sheets, and he grudgingly got out of bed and proceeded to brush his teeth. He pulled a sweatshirt from the cabinet and unzipped it. He combed his hair to the best of his ability, and went to the bathroom. He would take a shower when he returned. He then preceded downstairs ready to be questioned once again on his least favorite muggle film by Mr. Weasley for the seventh time this week.

When he arrived, he was not greeted by the smell of fresh pancakes and coffee, but rather the smell of floo powder. Something was obliviously wrong, because who would go somewhere at ten o'clock in the morning?

"Who used the floo?" Harry asked casually as he sat.

"Jackie, she seems a bit preoccupied with herself this morning. She yelled at me and then went to go get some stuff in Diagon Alley; Merlin, that woman is crazy. I think it's her time of the month, you know Harry? Anyways, I made cereal so grab a bowl and don't spill. I had to clean it up last night because was too damn stubborn to do anything except read 'Which Witchly Witch' for seven hours on the couch. The new 'hot gossip, is that the signer, 'Christina Warbeck' has finally found a man. You know the name right, that guy, what's his name? The lead signer of the weird sisters? Julian something? I mean, isn't that so totally fabulous?"

"Don't try to think too hard, you'll hurt yourself."

"You little cocky midgets," Sirius muttered under his breath.

**Third Person: Maya**

Maya woke up with Hermione's cat on her lap. She jumped up and scared herself half to death. The cat still did not move, and it seemed it wasn't going to. She sighed and let the cat jump around like the scared little fat-cat it was as she poked it in the ribs. She had hoped Hermione wouldn't come in, especially seeing as she was strangling her cat for life.

The other reason as that she had her photo-album open. This album contained hints her darkest secret. Not one of the children knew it, and she planned to keep it that way. For how long, she didn't know.

The first picture contained two girls, one who looked like an older version of Maya, and one who looked oddly a little like Fleur Delacour. Both of them had Beauxbatons robes on, and they were holding degrees and smiling widely. Maya looked at the picture and frowned. She missed Liana very much, but she wouldn't remember Maya know, not since she had changed time.

Not since she had heard the prophecy.

Mia had a secret of her own, and she wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to tell the other kids about it. You see, the day that Harry and Draco had told her that they were from the future, her head gave a total one-eighty spin and she wasn't sure how she liked that.

Flashback

_Future._

It haunted her very dreams and thoughts for the past six years.

Her head swarmed with images of things she didn't want to see, and her mind felt as though it was about to explode. She slowly felt her mind crumble to the darkness and succumb to the amazing power of the dark revelation just made. She could slowly feel her throat closing up, as if she was dying, slowly and it in the utmost most horrible situation ever.

They…

Were…

From…

The…

Future….

Normally, there would be no kind of reaction to this, except of course because they were from the future and they didn't tell you. But with her, there was so much more than that. Because, if she had not also had a very dark secret, nothing would be like this. Her life would no long be in great peril and danger.

You see, she had come back to save her family, not to befriend a Voldemort magnet. She came back to save her friends and her family.

She never expected this.

End Flashback

**Third Person: Remus**

_Over the past few weeks, everyone's been acting a little dodgy, _Remus thought, eating an apple from underneath the table so that nobody else would see it and come, knowing there was food in the house once again. See, Padfoot had tried to jinx the refrigerator, but it ended up being that he had totaled it and the food in the house was gone.

But Remus had fixed it only a few hours ago, but he didn't want to tell everyone that. See how long it took them to realize that the refrigerator was up and running again.

For the labor it took to take down the anti-muggle wards to bring it in, they better be grateful he had been the one to fix it.

So there he sat, eating an apple, and drowning himself and sorrow and pitiful memories. However, lately he had begun to much happier, what with Harry and his friends around and all, Remus missed the little tykes, but the thing was, he knew that the kids knew, but Sirius didn't.

He really needed to tell Sirius.

"Sirius, can I talk to you?"

"Remus, you fixed the fridgeriten!" Sirius called out in joy as he lunged for the refrigerator, grabbing all kinds of different foods and stuffing each one down his shirt. Remus grimaced at the sight, but decided there were much more important matters at hand.

"Sirius, I need to talk to you about something important."

"Sure, what is it Moony?"

"Look, this is hard to say so please don't interrupt me until I'm finished, alright?" He asked, looking Sirius straight in the eye, as to signal it was important. Sirius sat down, nervous, and threw away the apple core sitting on the table in front of him.

"Harry is actually an eighteen year-old boy and so is Draco, no let me finish! I am actually seven years older than I am now, and Harry has come a long way and so has Draco. Harry saw you fall from the "Veil of Death' a few years back, and he still hasn't really got over it. I don't want to go into much detail about it right now, but I just need to focus right now, can you do that?"

Sirius had a huge lump in his throat and no idea what to do, so he ran.

_Memories and Dirty Little Secrets: Part 2_

**Harry**

"Harry?" A hoarse voice asked from the edge of the room. "Your really my little Prongslet aren't you, my little man? Well, you aren't as little as I thought, were you? You're my, my big man now, huh? Wow, why didn't anyone bother to tell me!"

"What's going on, Sirius?"

"Harry," he said, his voice small and his grin very large, "the 'Veil of Death', they call it the Veil of Death, because nobody ever sees them again. The Veil is like the muggle equivalent of a time-machine; you've seen 'Back to the Future', haven't you?"

"You're serious?"

"Well, I haven't checked the mirror in a while, but last time I checked--"

**Remus**

There was definitely something wrong with Sirius today, and Remus wasn't exactly sure if he liked it, or even what it is for that matter. He looked over at Sirius bolting after he told him, and froze. He didn't like to think his best friend would desert him, and Harry as well, but that of course was the worst, wasn't it?

"Remus, do you think you could pass the butter?"

He looked at Hermione and smiled weakly. He didn't know what to think as he passed the butter to the girl who had just arrived over two hours ago. The sad thing about Hermione was though, that just a month ago he had seen something that would change her life forever.

Herself, lying on a floor, eyes wide open and full of pain and grief, dead.

**Harry**

After leaving Sirius, Harry went to find Maya. Realizing finally that he should do something about that, he quickly headed towards her room, to find out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He wasn't about to let her get away with anything; not on his watch.

"Maya, we need to talk."

He saw her shove a book under her bed, embarrassed, but he didn't say a thing about it. He was going to learn what was in that book eventually anyways.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Don't play games with me," he added harshly, "I know that you aren't who you claim you are, and you're going to tell me the whole truth. I want to know why you weren't at Hogwarts before and why you are suddenly there now! Basically, I want to know what you're hiding!"

"You won't like it…"

"Try me."

* * *

A/N:

I looked it up, so no flaming the Back to the Future deal. It came out in 1985, so please no flames.

Drama Queen Girl: I'm only here to please.

Padfoot's Sidekick: I understand where you're coming from, but remember, Draco has missed out on her for many years, and he's not quite in his right state of mind.

GalaxyStorm: Thanks! Glad to know I'm alive.

PSTurner: Thanks!

JediMasterWithAPen: Well doesn't everyone! Thanks!

Nightwing: Thanks for enjoying!

Verath: True, it is, but that's life. Thanks.

Fade: I will.

DragonHuntress: Glad I do!

Sissyspacedoubt: Let's take this one by one, okay?

Why didn't you tell us how Scabbers was caught?

A: Dramatic tension, it will come back, I promise.

What about Draco killing Dumbledore?

A: Again, dramatic tension.

Draco and Hermione?

A: I realize that a lot of people are disturbed by this, but I assure you, this does have a reason. All I will give you right now is that Draco may not be exactly totally aware of the creepiness of this in the total affect yet. Remember, he's just happy she likes him. And she's just happy that someone could pay real attention to her. So, there kind of living in fantasy land.

But thanks for reading!

'Till next time,

Seriously Sirius Marauder


	12. Mayan Mai: Escape Artist

**Mayan Mai-Elad: The Escape Artist**

**Maya**

Maya looked up, her head tilted, and Harry looking at her with a passion she had never seen before, if not on her old professors. His seething stare was enough to make her break down, recently she had become very unstable, and she personally did not like that. As dimwitted as he was, he wasn't stupid, and whilst she thought she could get away with the things she was doing, she was wrong.

"Whilst this book not only holds photos, but memories, I suggest you hold on to your hat, because you might not like what I'm about to show you…"

"What is this?"

"A pensive of sorts; it not only shows you pictures, but memories that are planted within it. My friends and I have planted many memories in this when we went to school…"

"School?"

"Harry, are you really that dim witted?" She asked, opening her trunk. She set the photo album down and proceeded to lock the door. She gave him a raised eyebrow, and pointed to the album, took out her wand and crossed it across the piece of picture and the golden frame.

"_May anyone who enters these memories be truthful, and everyone who enters to remember, shall remember not in haste, but in love."_

"_Caliburiam!"_

**Harry**

Harry entered the hollow walls of Beauxbatons School with an odd look on his face. The school was smaller than Hogwarts, and a much more condensed population. The halls were much less crowded, and obviously this was a memory that Maya had once had. But how? Was she from the future?

"You're from the…"

"You sure do catch on quick, Potter."

He was about to answer when he heard voices coming from the other side of the hallway. He turned around to see two girls entering the hallway, giggling, and talking. They looked to be about fifteen, fourteen or so, much younger than Harry felt. The girls were whispering in hushed voices and talking excitedly amongst themselves. There seemed to be nobody else in the halls for miles, and however, even those the right girl's accent was a bit hard to understand, he could still make it out from such a close distance.

"_I can't believe youz are taking me to England, Liana! Your sister, Fleur, she is amazing! How'd she get these tickets in ze first place?"_

"_Mothzer has gotten her a place in ze Hogwarts Tournament Selection, I iz sure you'll be having ze time of your life in England! They say Britain is the key to romance, iz it not?"_

"_Oh sod that, Liana; I am not looking for any romance in Britain, I iz already finding enough here; with Jean and all."_

"_Will you invite me to ze wedding?"_

"_What?"_

"_Ze wedding avec Jean, May!"_

"_There won't be a wedding, honestly."_

"_Very well, May; be zat way. However Jean is quite a stud, is he not? These boys at Hogwarts will be nothing compared to boys here in France. Isn't France ze language of romance, not Englais? Zey have it all wrong."_

Harry looked to Maya who was transfixed at the screen, not noticing Harry anymore at all. Soon however, the memory shifted. For a while it was black, for a minute almost. Nobody came in and out, and Harry looked to Maya with almost a pang in his stomach as something bad would happen. He heard hissing and out of the back of his mind, he froze. Hissing? But he couldn't make it out. Either it was another Parsletonuge or a snake, but he doubted it was another Parsletonuge.

"**_Eth bacmher fo Cersste ash eneb pedoen ym rold. Feroereth, ew stum sier isantag Tepotr nda sih telitl endirsf. Yhw utsm ti eb erh rold? Htaw ash hes noed ot severed cush rurtote omrf uyo ym rold?" _**This was spoken by the black-haired boy in the black hood.

"**_Od ouy ared quoinset em ouy olentins oyb?"_** Harry guessed Voldemort had said this, but he wasn't very sure.

"**_On ym rold, hatw hasll aphenp?" _**This was the black-haired boy again.

"**_Epek ueitq, Nanimocid. Ew rae on nogerl loena. Iezse erh!" _**He was sure this was Voldemort now.

"**_Hes si ton het rabt ew ened, Nanimocid!" _**That was Voldemort again.

"**_How od ew ened ym rold?" _**The boy asked.

"**_Yaman-Aim Laed, hes asw ni eth Hecporpy ithw Tepotr! Etg reh orf em ro oyu aifl. Od oyu anwt ot aifl?" _**As Voldemort finished, his scar burned hot.

"_**On, ym rold."**_

"**_Odog, omec, ealve het irgl." _**

Soon, the world was spinning and before he knew what was going on, he was back in Maya bedroom, breathing hard and heavy. He looked at her in concern and astonishment, what was that? The last memory was odd, and she was perplexed by it as well. For a few moments they sat there, together, scared, and in pain. Harry didn't dare move. He thought it was too risky to move now. Not while he was still in this state of shock, this horrible shock.

"Maya…"

"Be quiet Harry."

Alright, if that's how it is, he thought inwardly terrified. What was the language they were speaking, if it was a language at all? It made no sense. Suddenly, as an answer to his prayers, Maya spoke.

"For the past three years I've tried to deceiver it into French but to no avail. I never knew what it was, just that my other friend Amalee had been kidnapped by them. However, I did translate the names. When he said Yaman-Mia Laed, I realized, after a while, it was my name. Yaman is Mayan, Mia is Mai and Laed is Elad. One thing that puzzles me is that why would he want me?"

"What about Nanimocid?"

"Who?"

"The boy in the black-hood, that is what Voldemort called him, Nanimocid?"

"I never figured who that was."

"It was a last name, I know it. Voldemort calls his servants by their last names, I know they do. Do you know anyone by that last name?"

"Domamitci; it all makes sense."

"He would disappear every once and a while, and nobody would know why. He would always tell us that he was going to find someone, or down to the Hall for some extra dinner, nobody questioned him. Why didn't she ever say anything? My friend, Amalee, she saw these two and didn't say a thing. Beauxbatons used to have some of the Durmstrang students over for special classes, that's why I saw Jean so much. I knew his family was an old one, a follower of Dark Lords, but I thought he was different. He was so nice to me, you know?"

"I don't…"

"Amalee, she used to tell us about this and we told her it was all dreams. It all makes sense now! Every time she was kidnapped she told us about it and would write it in her diary, if in case she would ever need the information again. We thought she was crazy, but we never saw it. Jean was just trying to get in good with me because he needed me! He used me?"

"What did he look like? Can you show me a memory of him when he didn't have his hood up?"

"I think I have one, ah, here it is. I caught him brining back Amalee to the dormitory and he made the excuse that he wanted to see me. We have a long chat so you'll be able to see him from all angles. I think I found it, here."

Soon, Harry felt himself wrapped in a tugging sensation.

"_Jean, what are you doing here? I had thought you would be in your quarters discussing ridiculously awful plays of Qudditch with Victor Krum that could get you killed, but never the less, you always seem to amaze me, Jean."_

_This was the first time that Harry had really gotten a good look at the boy. He frowned and gasped… that was no Jean Domamitci, that was Blaise Zabini!_

"_I just had to see you, May. You know my dreams only exist of you and only you. Fear not, my lovely, I have a plan to ditch this place. You see, Durmstrang men, they know what the Beauxbatons girls want, don't they?"_

"_Not to mention their dark and daring appearance?"_

"_You think I'm fine love, because I could use a few benches now and then."_

Maya giggled something that Harry had thought he would never see in his life. He coughed and she realized what he was thinking. She smiled shyly and starred transfixed at the scene being played out in front of there very eyes. They both just rambled on about the dark and handsome features of Jean/Blaise until Maya went to bed twenty five minutes later.

During the entire time, none of them realized that the entire fate of the wizarding world was in the hands of them decoding the above message.

* * *

Hermione Granger was never one for quick-wit, that was for sure. Her family was a mediocre well-off family of two parents and a single child. Nothing seemed unnatural about that did it? Well, maybe the fact that their only daughter was a witch could do it. Yes, that could cause some problems; or maybe because the Dursleys were coming over for dinner that night? Yes, that could do it as well.

Cunning, deception and handsome features were what Vernon Dursley thought of himself. He was as arrogant as any other man, only more so, and as talented as the next. He was, what is a good for it? Well, he liked to think of himself as _normal._

Other people however, thought of him as anything but normal.

The Grangers were no exception. The Grangers were not normal themselves, having a witch for a daughter, but even before that, they never seemed to be normal. They never really liked normal. Rob Granger was never one for tactic of strict rules, that's why he and his wife got so well together. They were opposites, as simple as that.

Hermione was anything but normal. Hermione Granger had always loved studying and even before attending Hogwarts was always the outcast. However, that never bothered her.

"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, it is lovely having you in our home," Jane exclaimed in the most false cheery voice she could manage while Rob tried to hide his utter disgust for these people. A smirk was masked under the false masquerade of a pleasant smile. These people were very dense. These were the sort of people that Rob hated… ones who tried to hard to be normal. He scoffed but covered it as a sneeze when Jane sent him a death glare.

"Please, sit."

"Mum, have you seen my wand?"

Jane froze over. Vernon turned his head slowly to the stairs, but shook it off as though he was hearing things. Jane dismissed it from her mind, hoping Hermione would look for her wand by herself. For if she couldn't find it and asked again, they would be screwed.

"Mom! Where is my--"

"In your room, Hermione!"

"Daughter?" Petunia asked, sipping her coffee from her pursed lips with obvious distaste. Jane scowled darkly and Rob tapped her on the shoulder. Hermione had come downstairs, with her owl. Inside, she had mentally cursed when she saw the Dursleys.

"Um…"

"You're a witch! Just like my wretched sister, aren't you?"

"A what?" Hermione said, trying to play the dumb card. Dudley muttered 'freak' before going back to his pudding. Ten minutes after yelling and screaming, they left, racing out as fast as you could say 'Qudditch'.

She really was sorry for ruining her parents chances at the new client, but she was relieved they would never be coming back. Sitting on her bed, an owl swooped down, she realized was Draco's, tore off the parcel and read the note attached:

_**Hermione,**_

_**You deserve to know what I've done to you. All I really can say I was an annoying sod that didn't understand what life was until the last minute. I'm sorry that I put you through your horrible years at Hogwarts, and even thought you can't remember them, after seeing this, I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. If not, I deserve it. I would never do it again if I had the choice. I only wish I knew better then.**_

_**Draco Malfoy**_

She looked thoughtful for a moment before everything went black.

* * *

When she awoke, she looked around and realized this a memory of Draco's, but it was so odd that she didn't understand what was happening. Draco's voice echoed in the background. He sure goes all out when he gives you a present doesn't he…

'_I hope you know that I would never call you what I call you here, not now. I was an idiot, and this is your second year of Hogwarts. I was a prick and the rest is self explanatory.'_

Hermione looked around and realized that people were coming her way.

_"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the pitch for today! We'll see about this!"  
_

_Wood shot towards the ground, landing rather harder than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as he dismounted. Harry, Fred and George followed._

_"Flint!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin captain._

_"This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"  
_

_Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."_

_Angelina, Alicia and Katie had come over, too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team who stood, shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors, leering to a man.  
_

_"But I booked the pitch!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"_

_"Ah," said Flint, "but I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Qudditch pitch, owing to the need to train their new Seeker.'"_

_"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"  
_

_And from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face._

_It was Draco Malfoy._

_"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike._

_"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint, as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."_

_All seven of them held out broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words "Nimbus Two Thousand and One" gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early-morning sun._

_"Very latest model. Only came out last month," said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps," he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives, "sweeps the board with them."_

_None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly his cold eyes were reduced to slits._

_"Oh look," said Flint. "A pitch invasion."  
__Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see what was going on._

_"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?" He was looking at Malfoy, taking in his Slytherin Quidditch robes._

_"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," said Malfoy, smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."_

_Ron gaped open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him.  
"Good aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."_

_The Slytherin team howled with laughter._

_"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply. "They got in on pure talent."_

_The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered.  
"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood," he spat._

_Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoy's face._

_A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backwards onto the grass._

_"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.  
Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap._

_The Slytherin team was paralyzed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging on to his new broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with his fists. _

The Gryffindors were gathered round Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs. Nobody seemed to want to touch him.

_"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," said Harry to Hermione, who nodded bravely, and the pair of them pulled Ron up by the arms.  
"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill?"_

_But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the pitch. Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front._

_"Oooh," said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. "Can you hold him still, Harry?"_

_"Get out of the way, Colin!" said Harry angrily._

Hermione, being shocked the entire time, did nothing but stare. That was Draco? It couldn't have possibly been Draco, it just couldn't have. She wouldn't believe it. It didn't matter to her at all that she was babbling to nobody at all, but that was alright. She wasn't even in her right state of mind anymore. He had called her a mudblood.

A mudblood. Why?

_'You, Harry and Ron were trying to figure out the mystery of the Chamber of secrets in late second year. You decided to use Polyjuice Potion to interigate me.'_

_A voice suddenly echoed behind Harry and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling towards them, and for the first time in his life, Harry was pleased to see him._

_"There you are," he drawled, looking at them. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you, I want to show you something really funny." _

_Malfoy glanced witheringly at Percy. _

_"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered. _

_Percy looked outraged. _

_"You want to show a bit more respect to a school Prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!" _

_Malfoy sneered and motioned Harry and Ron to follow him. Harry almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught himself just in time. _

_He and Ron hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley -" _

_"Percy," Ron corrected him automatically. _

_"Whatever," said Malfoy. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed." _

_He gave a short, derisive laugh. _

_Harry and Ron exchanged excited looks. _

_Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall. _

_"What's the new password again?" he said to Harry. _

_"Er -" said Harry. _

_"Oh yeah - pure-blood!" said Malfoy, not listening, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy marched through it and Harry and Ron followed him. _

_The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. _

_A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in carved chairs. _

_"Wait here," said Malfoy to Harry and Ron, motioning them to a pair of empty chairs set back from the fire. "I'll go and get it - my father's just sent it to me -" _

_Wondering what Malfoy was going to show them, Harry and Ron sat down, doing their best to look at home. _

_Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper cutting. He thrust it under Ron's nose. Harry saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. _

_He read the cutting quickly, gave a very forced laugh and handed it to Harry. It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet, and it said: _

_INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC _

_Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car. _

_Mr Lucius Malfoy, _

_a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, _

_where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called for Mr. Weasley's resignation. _

_"Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately." _

_Mr Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told our reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them. _

_"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently, as Harry handed the cutting back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?" _

_"Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly. _

_"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasley's were pure-bloods, the way they behave." _

_Ron's - or rather, Crabbe's - face was contorted with fury. _

_"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy. _

_"Stomach ache," Ron grunted. _

_"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering. _

_"You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent Headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in." _

_Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did a cruel but accurate impression of Colin: "Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?" _

_He dropped his hands and looked at Harry and Ron. _

_"What's the matter with you two?" _

_Far too late, Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake. _

_"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped-up Granger Mudblood. And people think he's Slytherin's heir!" _

_Harry and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was him. But then - _

_"I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy prudently. "I could help them." _

_Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe's face looked even more gormless than usual. _

_Fortunately, Malfoy didn't notice, and Harry, thinking fast, said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all ..." _

_"You know I haven't Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about what happened the last time the Chamber was opened, either. Of course, it was about fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing: last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time... _

_I hope it's Granger," he said with relish. _

_Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fist. Feeling that it would be a bit of a give-away if Ron punched Malfoy, Harry shot him a warning look and said, "D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?" _

_"Oh, yeah... whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban." _

_"Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled. _

_"Azkaban - the wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backwards." _

_He shifted restlessly in his chair and said, "Father says to keep my head down and let the heir of Slytherin get on with it. _

_He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our Manor last week?" _

_Harry tried to force Goyle's face into a look of concern. _

_"Yeah ..." said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor -" _

_"Ho!" said Ron. _

_Malfoy looked at him. So did Harry. Ron blushed. Even his hair was turning red. His nose was also slowly lengthening - their hour was up. _

_Ron was turning back into himself, and from the look of horror he was suddenly giving Harry, he must be, too. _

_They both jumped to their feet. _

_"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted, and without further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall and dashed up the passage, hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn't noticed anything. _

_By this time, Hermione looked sick to her stomach. How could he do this?_

_Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy stepped into the shop.  
The man who followed could only be his father. He had the same pale, pointed face and identical cold grey eyes. _

_Mr. Malfoy crossed the shop, looking lazily at the items on display, _

_and rang a bell on the counter before turning to his son and saying, touch nothing, Draco." _

_Malfoy, who had reached for the glass eye, said, "I thought you were going to buy me a present." _

_"I said I would buy you a racing broom," said his father, drumming his fingers on the counter.  
"What's the good of that if I'm not in the house team?" said Malfoy, looking sulky and bad-tempered. _

_"Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play for Gryffindor. He's not even that good, it's just because he's famous ... famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead ..." _

_Malfoy bent down to examine a shelf full of skulls.  
" ... everyone thinks he's so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick -" _

_"You have told me this at least a dozen times already," said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son, "and I would remind you that it is not - prudent - to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear - ah, Mr. Borgin." _

_A stooping man had appeared behind the counter, smoothing his greasy hair back from his face.  
"Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again," said Mr. Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair. _

_"Delighted - and young Master Malfoy, too - charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced -" _

_"I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling," said Mr. Malfoy. _

_"Selling?" The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin's face.  
"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids," said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few - ah - _

_items at home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were to call ..."  
Mr. Borgin fixed a pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list. _

_"The Ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely?" _

_Mr. Malfoy's lip curled.  
"I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumors about a new Muggle Protection Act - no doubt that flea-bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it -" _

_Harry felt a hot surge of anger.  
"- and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it appear -"  
"I understand, sir, of course," said Mr. Borgin. "Let me see ..." _

_"Can I have that?" interrupted Draco, pointing at the withered hand on its cushion.  
"Ah, the Hand of Glory!" said Mr. Borgin, abandoning Mr. Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Draco. _

_"Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste, sir." _

_"I hope my son will amount to ore than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin," said Mr. Malfoy coldly and Mr. Borgin said quickly, "No offence, sir, no offence meant -" _

_Though if his school marks don't pick up," said Mr. Malfoy more coldly still, "that may indeed be all he is fit for."  
"It's not my fault," retorted Draco. _

_"The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger -"_

_"I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam," snapped Mr. Malfoy._

_"Ha!" said Harry under his breath, pleased to see Draco looking both abashed and angry. _

_"It's the same all over," said Mr. Borgin, in his oily voice. "Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere -"  
"Not with me," said Mr. Malfoy, his long nostrils flaring.  
"No, sir, nor with me, sir," said Mr. Borgin, with a deep bow. _

_"In that case, perhaps we can return to my list," said Mr. Malfoy shortly. "I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today." _

_They started to haggle. Harry watched nervously as Draco drew nearer and nearer to his hiding place, examining the objects for sale. _

_He paused to examine a long coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals: Caution: Do Not Touch. Cursed - Has Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date. _

_Draco turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of him. He walked forward ... he stretched out his hand for the handle ...  
"Done," said Mr. Malfoy at the counter. "Come, Draco!" _

_Harry wiped his forehead on his sleeve as Draco turned away.  
"Good day to you, Mr. Borgin, I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods." _

_The moment the door had closed, Mr. Borgin dropped his oily manner.  
"Good day yourself, Mister Malfoy, and if the stories are true, you haven't sold me half of what's hidden in your manor ..."_

Hermione looked around, realized that she was slowly falling, and felt herself go into the blackness of the world. She didn't realize the sadness in the older Draco's voice however. For several miles away, Draco Malfoy was sitting in his bed, trying very hard not to cry.

* * *

A/N: Everything in the italics and the memories come from J.K. Rowling's amazing books. Nothing but the plot is mine. Een Maya isn't mine. Review my friends! I think it sucked, but that's one man's opinion. I need more! I feed off your reviews. Just joking.

Seriously Sirius Marauder


	13. Spit Fights, Mudbloods and Redemption

_Spit Fights, Mudbloods and Redemption_

* * *

To say that Harry Potter was a fairly happy fellow would be not of the wrong, but of the questionable sort of statement. He lived with a family that loved him, friends that would always stand by him and a love that was so strong no many would follow. He had the power to defeat the Dark Lord and the knowledge of upcoming events. This would make anyone happy; right?

Harry Potter; didn't want this. He wanted to be a normal person for a day, but that could never happen, it was very obvious. He never went anywhere without being bombarded, questioned and threatened until he was blue in the face. His whole life revolved around being the 'Boy Who Lived', being famous.

Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs. This legend is famous throughout the wizarding world. The boy didn't know how famous he was; because he was taught to believe he was worth nothing. One day, this boy disappeared into nowhere. This is where the two stories differ. In one world, the boy never disappeared and he lived in this horrid life until eleven when he was found out to be the famous 'Boy Who Lived' and taken into the wizarding world. He battled countless villains and one who was out for his life, Voldemort. As he aged, he realized at fifteen he was the only one that could kill the monster. At eighteen he killed him finally, but at a great price.

This is where our stories differ. In another world, all these things could have happened, but didn't, because the Harry taking the boy's place, knew everything that was about to happen. This Harry battled countless villains and took out Voldemort. He knew everything about to happen. This is what the wizarding world did not know.

So, is Harry Potter a happy person?

You deicide.

* * *

"Harry?"

Mumbling in his sleep, rolling over and snoring loudly, the boy hero did not hear his two best friends trying to wake him. He rolled over again and slowly stopped snoring, mumbling something about crazy chimps invading a wedding. He mumbled some name in his sleep that seemed to oddly resemble Ron's sister 'Ginny.'

"Did he say Ginny?" Ron asked Draco, "Why is Harry having romantic dreams about my sister?"

"He's not; he said," Draco said, taking a breath, "Minny; I think."

"Like McGonagall?"

"Who knows what Harry's fantasies are?"

"I have difficulty believing that, I think he said Ginny," Ron said, slowly taking a breath and deciding his next move. He didn't know what to do so he took an intake of breath and looked at Draco. He looked at his friend and mumbled 'Ginny' over and over again, sometimes attached to Harry. "Wake him up," Ron said, obviously talking to Draco.

"What?"

"Wake him up."

"I'm not waking Harry up; that's like suicide. Besides, what would be the point? How would he know he was having fantasies about your sister? It's not like he really knows what he says in his sleep, honestly, you going to bombard the guys with questions about his romantic life?" Draco added the last sentence in hope that Ron would not do anything and forget about it, but on the contrary.

"She's ten."

"Alright, you win. Harry, you big prat, wake up!"

"Wha?" Harry asked, just waking up. His head bruised with pain and the visions of Voldemort and 'evil monkeys' attacking his and Ginny's wedding. Ron was staring at him with obvious disbelief and Draco had a sort of apologetic look on his face. Harry looked up and asked, "What'd I do?"

"You were mumbling sexual things about my sister in your sleep?"

"No, I wasn't," Harry said, a little shaky. "I--"

"Harry, do you like my sister?"

Oh thank god, maybe he hadn't realized that she may have been his in the future. Suddenly, a light bulb seemed to click inside Harry's head; he could tell Ron it was a little crush, he was sorry, and he would never think about it again, especially in a sexual way. But it seemed Ron just had a light bulb go off in his head too, "Harry, were you dating my sister? Before you came here I mean?" Harry didn't answer. "You were, weren't you? That is why you are so risky about that subject? Why the hell would you hide that from me? How involved were you?"

"We were--"

"Draco, you knew about this?"

"Uhh--"

"We were to married four months after she died!"

"What?"

* * *

Four hours, several screaming fits and seven popsicles later Draco lay in the kitchen worried about Harry and Ron, wondered how this would affect their friendship. However, this was Harry and Ron, duo since the start of time, but then again, this was a different Ron. This was also Ron's sister, his prize on protection. They were both locked in their rooms, talking to themselves how the other one was an idiot.

Draco refused to get involved.

"Draco, can you get me a soda?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Harry and Ron are still fighting?"

"Yeah; they'll never stop, stubborn as a horse, both of them."

He looked at Maya and sighed. Maya knew about his little feud with Hermione and he refused to talk about it with her, even though he knew she would bring it up. He was saved when someone came into the room; too bad it was Hermione. He looked up, speechless for a second, gathering his cool and then grabbing a banana making sure he didn't look too ridiculous.

"Maya," she acknowledged, "Draco."

She said his name with much discomfort and Maya could tell. He looked at her and sighed, his eyes wandering from candle to candle. "Can I speak with you alone, Draco?" This was not good; she wanted to speak with me, alone? What the hell did that mean? Does she hate me? Is she going to call our relationship off? Our friendship? There is no way I could handle that.

"Draco, I need some space."

"What?"

"I need some space to think about what I've seen, and what I still haven't seen. I know you've changed, that much is obvious, but I need time, space. I need you to stop being that boy you were before--"

"I'm not him!"

"I know, and I love you for that, but I need space, time. I need to think about this, and I like you Draco Malfoy, don't get that wrong. I want to be with you, but not know. I want to grow up a little, learn more about love and stuff like that, I'm too young. I promise you though; I will find you and love you when I'm ready. You need to stop being a prat first."

"I'm not a prat, mudblood!"

The world seemed to stop. Cancel that, the world did stop. Hermione felt her hands go pale and her whole face felt like it was dripping off her. Her whole body froze, and her eyes swelled to the size of galleons. Her hair stood up on end and her face was off pure shock. The false smile on her lips vanished as soon as he said 'mud' and her whole body seemed to stop. The clock on the wall froze in its place, and the whole world spun on it's axis' twenty times.

"Mi—Mi" Draco tried to say, not doing a very good job of saying Mione. "Mione, Mione! I didn't, I really, I mean, what did I, I love, I can't, I was, anger, stuff, love, anger, Mione!"

"You are him."

"I'm not, I'm not!"

"You are."

"Hermione Granger, I love you."

"You seem surprised; so am I."

* * *

Six days, several hours of grieving and eight bags of popcorn later, Draco sat on the Hogwarts Express, pining for his one love he had let go. He had let her fight her way against him, and he had let her walk out on him, and he never felt worse in his life. His whole body felt numb every time he saw her, and every time she walked past he thought of the annoying name he had learned to call her. Every time her hair swung in different directions he thought of her horrid expression as she heard what he said. Every time he saw her his heart skipped a few beats.

Nobody was talking since everyone except Maya was in a fight. Harry and Ron were on separate sides of the compartment huffing about the idiotic behavior of each other. Draco felt the whole world turn as she spoke,

"The Trolley's here."

Not a love confession, but just her soft voice made chills go up his spine. He couldn't live without her.

* * *

"Why did you call her that Malfoy? I thought you were better than that? Was this all a plan to get in good with us and then backstab Mione and backstab us? Did you plan this all in advance and plan to tell Voldemort all our secrets just in time for his big comeback?"

"Yeah I did, what are you going to do about it?" Draco said in obvious sarcasm.

"This, you sodding bastard."

The last thing Draco saw was a fist coming toward him and blackness surrounding him.

* * *

When Draco awoke in the Hospital Wing, he saw Ron next to him and blew a sigh. He knew that Ron was just angry and didn't mean harm, but his nose hurt like hell. His body was sweating like an air balloon and his mouth was so sour that he felt that even Hermione's voice couldn't heal it. His breath became shorter as Ron began to talk.

"Draco, we need to talk."

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time. They both stared at each other for a moment. They looked each other over and neither of them spoke for a few moments. Draco peered into his eyes and felt the sadness in them and the aura surrounded them. He glanced at the flowers by his bed. They were signed by Hermione telling him to meet her in the Entrance Hall as soon as he woke up. That means she was talking to him, which was amazing. Seeing back into Ron's mysterious eyes, he felt guilty for being so sarcastically mean to the guy, he was only extremely protective, thought not an amazing trait, a very human one.

"I'm sorry for punching you, Draco; I know you were angry about Harry and I and didn't mean to hurt Mione, believe me I know how that feels; really sucky. I forgive you for being a prat to Mione and I hope you can forgive me for a being a sodding prat myself."

"It's alright," Draco said, saddened, "I know and I'm sorry for being a prat. Friends?"

"Only the best."

Just as they began to hug, Harry came barging in. "Draco, Ron, I have something important to tell you?"

"What's up?"

"Did you two patch things up?"

"We did, but we have a bigger problem than that. Your fathers here, Draco." All the happiness in Draco's voice faded as he heard these words. Harry pulled the map from his pocket and muttered the password, grabbing the parchment with the Headmaster's Office and looked puzzled. "He's not there, that's odd, I swear I saw him."

"Where's Hermione, I haven't seen her in a while."

Harry took the parchment and muttered 'Hermione' and gasped as the response came back. "It says she's not in the premises of the map; and it shows all of Hogwarts."

"So, Hermione's gone…"

"And so is Draco's father…" Ron added hastily.

* * *

A/N: Love it or hate it? Please do tell. Review answers:

JediMasterWithAPen: Well think of it as a b day present.

AnnF: Correct with the spelling thing but making things dramatic is my pastime!

Incoming Call: I'm confused too… and I will tell you the whole Sirius is not how it appears…

Tina: Wow. I've never had that many people review my story in that fashion. It's interesting. I loved reading your comments on every chapter.

Kawaii Chibi Sun: Odd name, but great reviews! Lol.

HoshiHikari: I refuse to say anything about the decoding of the message just yet.

RT: Please keep in mind the first chapter was written five months before the second chapter, I'm not using it as an excuse however, just informing. Thanks for the feedback.

From now on I will only be responding to reviews I have something to say. I'm sorry, but it's getting overwhelming.


	14. Trial and Error

**Trial and Error**

Everytime I see your face,

I can see the games you play,

Nobody can break hearts better,

Why do you have to be so damn clever?

-So Damn Clever, The Plain White T's

* * *

"What are you suggesting we do then if you're so smart?" Draco sniffed angrily, being fed up with everything, his life and everyone he knew. He suddenly felt quite ashamed, watching as Harry and Ron cowered in his presence.

"No reason to get angry…"

"My father just kidnapped Hermione," he said, unable to keep the angry in, "I think that's a reason to panic, don't you?" He grabbed his hand against the metal bar next to him, and refused to say anymore. He paced, as he sometimes did, and glared at them. Draco stood up, sweat inclosing his body as he passed the rack of blood samples on Madam Pomphrey's desk of previous patients. When he turned around he tiped the top off a blood sample of a third year Hufflepuff named Mason Gray.

The blood sample, rocking back and forth in its place, turned and headed downward, reaching the floor with a crash. He muttered something under his breath that sounded like several swears as he picked up a piece of glass. "Reparo!" He announced and the liquid poured itself back in to the glass he was holding. He caped the container and softly turned to face Harry and Ron.

"We have to find her."

"Are you insane?" Ron asked, fully aware that he was, "She could be anywhere!"

"I am craving adventure," Harry said, closing his mouth as soon as Ron sent him a dirty look. Draco raised an eyebrow and then Harry came back realizing how serious the adventure was, "and on that note."

"What?" Ron asked, watching Harry grab his cloak from the rack and tied it around his waist. "We'll be killed, no questions asked."

"Do you want to save Hermione?"

"Well, yeah…"

"I've been through much worse; think of it as a first adventure." Harry nodded sad and gloomy as he stuffed an old piece of parchment into his bag. "Come on."

"An adventure from hell," Ron muttered.

"That's the spirit!"

* * *

"Maya…"

"What are you doing; where's Hermione?"

"In a holding cell in Malfoy Manor by now I'd suppose…" Draco added hastily, avoiding Maya's death glare. Ron and Harry's voices faded away as he faced her, saddened by his own words. "If she's that lucky…" he added.

"Draco!" She replied, obviously annoyed by his attitude at the moment. She at first figured he was joking, but upon seeing the faces of Ron and Harry, began to reconsider. "She…"

"Is in Malfoy Manor," he added, finishing her thought for her. Everyone was silent. Draco's stomach lurched for food as a strand of blood hair blocked his eyes. He could see, out of the corner of his eye that they were all hiving him incredulous looks. "Alright, not a cheerful topic, I get it." He dipped his head low and sideways to check the map in Harry's hand and spotted Filch in the corner adjacent to theirs. "Filch; will have to hurry."

"Hurry where?" Maya asked, in obvious turmoil as she unwillingly forced into the passage of the one-eyed witch. She was followed closely by Harry and Draco, then Ron who took up the rear. Filch turned the corner just as Ron's foot disappeared. "Where are we?"

"Be silent and still; he can still hear us," Harry whispered, down on all fours and instructed the others the same. Draco was first to bent, then Ron and then Maya, who went reluctantly. Just as Filch passes she began to crouch down, waiting for instruction, as though awaiting a punishment. After Harry heard him leave, he instructed, "Lead us out of here." Can he be anymore vague?

Maya sturdily kept pressing on, turning when she instructed to, by Harry or Draco. For the most part she stayed straight and they followed. As soon as she thought she reached the end she began to crawl through the hole. Then a voice from the far distance stopped her. A man bringing wine down to the cellar had opened the door.

She quickly grabbed the trap door and shut it, waiting for the man to pass. When the others began asking her what was wrong, she hushed them in response to hear the man as she pressed her ear to the door, listening.

"I swear I saw someone down here, they were talking, in hushed voices." She heard one man, the one who came downstairs say to the new arrival. She kept on listening, but then they retreated back up the stairs. She sighed in relief. The boys finally understood what was happening. En Draco felt the need to speak up.

"Take a left."

"What?" All three of them echoed each other with their stares burning into Draco's spine. He saw them giving him such skeptical looks, and sighed. They pressed on for elaboration, but he did not comply with any. As Maya turned to speak, Draco did, "It's a kind of shortcut; takes us to the village outside Malfoy Manor. It's only a ten minute walk from there."

"Draco, if you're wrong…" Harry pressed on.

"I'm not," he said, and sighed, "where do think I went after prefect duties every night?"

Harry stared at him.

* * *

"My what a pretty little thin you are… pity you're a mudblood… feisty, bold and too smart for Draco." Lucius Malfoy was as domineering as possible, jabbing a rugged finger at her. He sat on the other side of the cell, on a chair. She thought he looked ridiculous in his frilly laced dress, but said nothing. This was not after all a suicide attempt.

He looked up, traced a finger of his massive hands on her cheek and she swatted it away. "See, I knew you were bold, but no matter. What does bold and knowledge get you behind bars Ms. Granger? Nothing, I see." He leered over her, taunting in a way she thought was not humanly possible.

"What would you do?"

"Excuse me?" It was quite clear that she was trying to but time, but he seemed to not notice a thing but her scratchy voice. "What would I do in what terms, Miss Granger?"

"Being locked in a cell I mean." She saw his face go pale, and she was enjoying it. She felt herself glance at him every moment or two to make sure he was still deep in thought. She smirked when she saw his loaming figure breaking down.

"What does it matter, Miss Granger? I'll give your rescuers a half an hour, and then I'll kill you. Still interested in the answer?"

"Intrigued."

"Figures; you are a Gryffindor."

* * *

After twenty more minutes of the winding passage, Maya heart had seemed to stop. Maya's hands and feet hurt like hell as well. She muttered something under her breath and she walked up, tipped herself over the hole and ignored her soar back digging into her spleen.

"Draco, lead the way."

So he did. They walked for fifteen agonizing minutes to get to where they were going; wherever it was they were going. They walked in silence, the only sound coming from Ron's shoe hitting a pebble every few steps. The rain was pouring on them so that they were drenched so much that it was beyond insane. They reached a dead end and saw a phone booth on the end of the street, and to match that, a dead end.

"Er, Draco?"

"The phone booth," he answered back with no recognition of anything across his features.

They all sat back and watched him punched in the number: 111:145:788:76

As soon as she saw it, it was gone. In front of her were now two large oak front doors. "Where are we?" She asked, looking up and down at the castle before her.

"Malfoy Manor." He took out his wand and muttered a few unknown spells to take down the wards of the house and then he took a prick leaf and his hand. The door was swung aside.

* * *

"Hermione?"

"Draco?"

"How did you get in?" There was a long silence. He put his hand to hers, and they both stood there, together, without words. Neither of them had the courage to speak. Draco closed his eyes and after a long time, he began to speak,

"I know a place," he said and sucked in breath, "that we can go to," he added, looking around, "a place where no one knows who we are." Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. "I know, a place that we can run to, and do those things we want to," he said, his breath steady, "they won't know who we are." Hermione began to smile. "Let me take you there," he smiled back, "I want to take you there."

"I am afraid Miss Granger won't be going anywhere…" a voice drawled behind them.

* * *

"Sirius?" asked Remus, from the Kitchen doorway. "Can I get you anything to drink?" From out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the visible concern as Sirius tipped his head sideways to look at him. Upon looking closer at him than before his eyes seemed more hazel than the normal brown, "Sirius? Are you okay?"

"I'll get it myself, thanks." Sirius moved towards the kitchen when he froze in place as Remus' wand secured around his throat. "What are you doing, Remus?" He didn't feel the need to respond. "Are you ill?" Remus stared in shock at the wizard before him. The last time he had said ill was fourteen years ago, making fun of Snape.

It was one of the last pranks they played on Severus before James and Lily began "getting it on" as Sirius referred to it as. He never did have respect for anything like that. How he got Jackie in the first place was a mystery to never be solved. He sent Severus a box of acid covered chocolates. It landed him in the Hospital Wing for a week. Sirius felt terrible for days on end, counting that and the werewolf incident that had happened two months before, Severus felt no need to accept the apology. He had no need to. He couldn't believe Sirius would bring that up. "Trust you to bring that up, you bloody sod."

"Bring what up?" He asked, thoroughly confused.

Remus pulled his wand farther into his throat, ignoring his cries of "Remus!". "Who are you?" He asked, unscathed by his attempt to throw a temper tantrum. "You haven't called me Moony since the kids left, you drink every hour on the button and now you act as though you have no recollection of the event that happened fourteen years ago that CHANGED YOUR LIFE!!!" He growled. "Did you think I was stupid, Death Eater?"

"Yes," was the muffled reply. "After all, it did take you a week to realize it, didn't you?"

Remus was ready to murder him with the gleam in his eye. He bound magic ropes to him and studied him on the wall. As he changed painfully, his hair went more auburn that black, with streaks running down the middle of black. The black streaks faded to brown, that could only not be natural. His eyes were now hazel, instead of brown and the face twisted into that of a much younger man, sixteen, seventeen at the least; eighteen, if you squinted. His aristocratic features reminded him much of Draco, but they were not related, he could tell. He may have been related to the Black's however. His hair grew a little in size, reaching to his shoulders, tattered and dry. His eyes stood out with pure hatred. "Werewolf," he muttered, "unbind me."

"Not a chance; where is Sirius?"

"Let me go!"

"Where is Sirius?"

"In the closet on the third floor!"

He dragged him with a carrying charm to show him where Sirius was. Sirius was there, tied behind a piece of clothing, under a binding spell and a Silencio Charm. He held the boy back and untied Sirius as fast as he could. As soon as he did, he blasted the other to the other room, unconscious.

"Sirius, are you alright?"

"Hey, Moony."

"I've been meaning to ask you, what was with the whole Back to the Future Reference."

"What reference?"

"That wasn't you?"

"Nope."

Sirius wasn't from the future. Harry would freak, not in a good way. That Death Eater had tricked them all and he was about to explode from a head injury. This was not good. "Remus? Sirius? Are you here?" The voice of Jackie ran through the hall like wild fire.

"Oh sh-"

"Remus? What are you doing in here?" Jackie asked, entering the door.

"Bugger."

* * *

Review! I'm very pleased with all of your reviews! Keep it coming, please!

S.S.M


	15. A Slow Stop

_**Chapter 15: A Slow Stop**_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own it. J.K. doesn't own it either, the evil monkeys do. IncomingCall owns Maya. See, told you I owned nothing._**

* * *

January 29th, 1992

Malfoy Manor

Courtyard

* * *

The rubble was scratchy against his feet, kicking it as the rubble broke in different pieces. The air around the surrounding house was cold and the vibration of tension around the three occupants of the courtyard could be split with a knife. Draco had gone ahead inside; he was the only one who could get inside the extra wards. Harry, Ron and Maya were now stuck outside, waiting for him to return, hopefully with Hermione in his arms. Harry took a deep breath, looked to Maya with a fearful look on his face, and brushed the pebbles of his shoes. The silence was almost defining. It was annoying really, how chatty Ron normally was and how quiet he was now. 

"You think they'll come back alright?"

"There's no saying how they'll get themselves out of this scrape, Ron," Maya replied, looking down at him with fearful eyes, "let's just hope it's easier than it looks."

Harry knew it wouldn't be. He looked around the courtyard and sighed; he had never actually been to Malfoy Manor before, never in all the times of the war. He had always expected it to be huge the house in front of him was _not _a house. It was gigantic; a castle more than house or even a manor; everything about it screamed royalty. Hell, they even had dungeons; what does that say about their wealth, eh? He never knew that the Malfoy's had horses, but above the castle's walls was a pasture with horses and such; he doubted they actually did any of the manual labor.

"You think he'll come out with his father on his tail; we're a bunch of kids, we can't face him," Ron said, coughing as he let a cold blast of wind knock him to the ground. Suddenly, the wind got stronger, and Harry got a fast bit of it as well. Maya had a look of sheer confusion on her face as the wind blasted her from the statue all the way over to the fountain. "What's going on?" Ron fought the urge to have a huge gust of wind stuck in his throat as he said this. "Where's that wind coming from?"

Neither Maya nor Harry answered him. As if on cue, it stopped. All of it just stopped as the entire courtyard mellowed into a soft breeze once again. "That was odd," Ron said, stating the obvious as Maya brushed herself a little farther away from him. Harry felt as though that the gust of wind wasn't a coincidence, however. He knew there was something strange going on here, and he was going to find out what it was.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rustle came from behind Ron in the brush of the tree next to him. Inhaling, all three of them leapt forward to look at the unfamiliar—

What exactly was it?

It was tall; at least seven feet in height and as round as Hagrid. It was red in essence, but when you looked at it closer and squinted it looked grey; almost white. The creature roared back and coughed up a huge piece of what looked like parchment. Harry looked at it neatly folded on the ground and saw the writing:

_**Decode the message.**_

Harry stopped breathing for a moment. Maya and Ron shivered at the exact same time and Harry felt another gust of wind tackle him. He looked up; head on his shoulders and making sure that nothing happened that would knock him off his feet. There was nothing right now that he wanted to see more than Draco coming out of that house with Hermione over his shoulder heroically and triumphantly looking as though he could be in some Teeth Whitening Commercial.

He wasn't sure that he could see them clearly after all the fog had been admitted into the surface. The creature was large and pointy, an annoying voice in the back of his head telling him to back off the courtyard and never come back. However, he wasn't really sure why he had never heard the voice before, but the fog that had had enclosed around him was not leaving.

For some reason, seeing Draco right now would take his mind off things. Seeing he and Hermione snogging each other senseless would be better than this. He knew that he was only imagining things but he could tell that the others were breathing much more heavily than he was. He could feel Ron's soft breathing traveling up his spine as the monster neared closer to the three of them.

"We've got to get out of here," Ron said slowly, backing away, "and fast."

"Good, good," a voice said from behind them, "you've met me friend."

* * *

Malfoy Manor

Dungeons

* * *

"I'm sorry I got sacked in here with you, Hermione," Draco said, rummaging through the cell, looking from something to open it. His eyes fell next to a large rock next to Hermione's foot and he pulled it closer to himself as she squealed a bit. "Sorry," he murmured, looking from her to her injured toe and then finally to the large rock behind her. He poked a stick in the rock and began to the scrape it into a million different pieces. He then scraped it along the barrier of the cell and stopped as the smooth of his hand fell against the cold, hard and rocky surface. 

"It's alright, Draco," she reassured him, "We'll find a way out."

"Do you think their alright?"

"Pardon?"

"Ron, Harry and Maya; they were outside in courtyard for me just a few moments ago. I knew that they would be in more danger by coming in here with us, maybe they'll be able to get to us before my father finds them." He paused to think about the possibility that his father hadn't found his three friends in the courtyard by now. He had left over twenty minutes ago; he knew it was a very slim chance they had remained unseen under now.

"I don't know," Hermione told him, her voice wavering slightly as she spoke, "they could be anywhere by now."

They sat in silence again. Draco knew that the topic of their romantic relationship and of the argument might come up, but he sat there, entranced as he was looking through her eyes. She was wearing her Hogwarts Uniform; it was all tattered up though. The seams were ripped and the right sleeve had what looked as though to be blood splattered on it. Her collar was pointed outwards and looked as though Lucius had tried hard to rip it off.

"Did he try to hurt you?"

"No," she answered, wiping some dirt of her skirt, "mentally, of course; that's his game."

"Fair enough," Draco replied, pulling a handkerchief out of the corner of his pocket. They starred at each other in silence, until the other one spoke. Draco felt a lump against his cold body as he lay on the side of the cell, and picked up a piece of rubble that behind his head. They were never going to get out of here; they were going to die here. He would not let his father hurt Hermione; not while he still had his own to feet to stop him. "We'll get out of here," he said, more in reassurance to himself than of Hermione.

"I know," she replied, "we have to."

* * *

Malfoy Manor

Courtyard

* * *

"We finally meet, don't we, Mr. Potter?" 

The voice was taunting and icy; cold as possible as though dripping with all kinds of eerie sarcasm filled his ears, wishing he was deaf now rather than hearing that man's voice. His voice was crackled, hoarse and of course very endearing as he took in ever inch of Harry's body. "You brought your sidekicks with you; my, this will be fun." He began to pull out his wand, but Harry stopped him, in a dead lock stare. Lucius looked from him to Ron to Maya, relaying the information in his mind as though he were a computer.

"My master will be pleased…"

"Your master is a spirit somewhere feeding off the life of a man with a turban…" Harry said, quickly swallowing all of his pride, "tell me how he will be pleased; I'd love to know. Will he be pleased to know his loyal sidekick has finally realized how much of a dog he really is; or will he be pleased to know that you have finally captured the 'famous' Harry Potter? Will he pleased that his only loyal servant is hiding as a rat for twelve under the Weasleys house; or maybe he'll be pleased that he can finally come out into the open and realize he's not much better than any of the other wizards."

"By hell, Potter, you could be the poster child for Gryffindor."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," he said, taking a breath, "you're foolish, hasty and an incompetent brat who doesn't know left from right. You can't keep your hands to yourself and your head of other people's business; you can't stop for a moment and see that there is more to the world than just yourself. You can't look at the world and see that you made it this way; full of grief and pain and only Lord Voldemort will be able to take you down once and for all…"

"As I said, Malfoy…" Harry began, licking his lips, "your master is feeding off some idiot in a turban who believes himself to be the 'oh-so-adoring' fan/servant; I think you've got yourself some competition." Harry looked up, heat in his eyes as he said, "Don't look so surprised; Voldemort has tons of favorites, and poor ickle Malfoy isn't at the top of the list; what are you going to do? Buy your way into his top favorites like you do everything else in life? You can't buy your way into Voldemort's life; however, I do believe he is in dire need of some new shampoo."

Lucius tensed. "I'll get you for that one, Potter!"

"Only stating the truth, Lucius," Harry said, looking at him up and down, and smirking as he responded, "Look who's the poster boy now; the Slytherin poster boy; a slightly tipsy lunatic with ideals on muggles and muggleborns as though you own the world; buying your way into everything as though it were a religion to live by and sticking your nose so high in the air that you got it lost in a cloud somewhere." He felt his cheeks go hot. "There; I just explained Slytherin in fifteen seconds."

Lucius had slowly pointed his wand at Harry and shot the first spell. "Duesango!"

Harry dodged it with much difficultly as he took his own wand out of his pocket. "Protego!" He cast a shield around himself as he pointed the wand at Lucius. "Augimenti!" A jet blast of water spilled out from under Harry's wand and Ron stepped back as Maya took out her wand as well. Maya shot a disarming spell at him and Ron cast a Wingardium Leviosa on a tree branch nearby. He was now in such a heated dual with Harry he didn't even notice Ron drop the branch right on top of him.

Sprawling on the floor, unconscious, he stopped withering in pain. The animal beside them roared in disbelief and they did they all they could not to scream. Ron grabbed Maya by the arm and pulled her into Malfoy Manor; safety be damned.

Harry followed, awestruck.

* * *

Malfoy Manor

Dungeons

* * *

Hermione and Draco stood next to each other, enjoying the warmth of the pebbles against their cold feet. Draco was leaning against a stone wall and Hermione was trying to poke the rock into a shape other than a large lump with a pointy stick. Both of their heads shot up as they heard footsteps coming through the open door. At first, both had thought it was Lucius and had narrowing escaped the screams that had wanted to come out of Hermione's mouth. 

When they entered the doors however, they screamed in satisfaction. "Bombarda!" Maya yelled, as the bars sprang loose and Draco was the first to climb out, looking dusty, ragged and limp from the amount of time he had taken to pull the pebbles off the ground. Hermione also looked awful; her ragged school uniform now covered in dirt and blood.

"We have to get out of here," they whispered fearfully together, "they have some animal outside so we'll have to go around back."

That they did. It took about twenty minutes to run through all the obstacles and annoying trinkets of Lucius' possession before they finally reached the end. Hermione, breathing so heavily she dared not to move, slipped in Draco's arms before hitting the floor with a loud clunk. "She must be exhausted," Harry said, picking her back up, "follow me."

Harry took them back into the village where the tunnel had led them to Malfoy Manor. They all assembled inside, hearing the last roar coming from the gates of Malfoy Manor before they disappeared within the entrance.

A little while later, a white light had entranced them as they went, circling the quartet as they dug way through sticks and rubble. Draco peeked his head out of the light and gave an all clear sign to jump out of the portrait hole. Ron, gloomy eyed but still very wide awake, grudgingly left the small hole for the area of large light.

The last thing he expected to hear was a voice, cheerful, but frightened.

"Would now be an appropriate time to ask what you four are doing down there?"

* * *

End Credits

* * *

Thank you all for watching. Special thanks to: 

Everyone!

Kay, that's it. Hope you enjoyed it.

S.S.M.


	16. Peace and Tranquility

Chapter 16: Peace and Tranquility: Never Lasts Very Long

* * *

"Er—Remus?"

"Yes?" He asked, swallowing a bit too loudly as Jackie stood in the doorway, staring at him and the tied up form of Sirius to the right of him. "So…" He said, biting his nail in an attempt to stall time, "How was Diagon Alley?" Remus looked up, hoping to see an amused face, but all he saw was a frown and an eyebrow raised. He had suspected as such. She was clearly not amused.

"Is this supposed to be—amusing?"

Remus swallowed again. Obviously, it wasn't. The younger boy was in the closet under a silencing spell that had caught him off guard the moment that Jackie had entered the room. He pulled his trousers down slightly as he played with the zipper on his coat pocket. She was looking even less amused than she had been thirty seconds ago. "No," Remus answered quickly, avoiding all eye contact. She looked at him skeptically and opened her mouth to respond, but Remus beat her to it, "Not amusing at all."

"Then pray tell what is it?" The sarcasm dripped off every syllable she uttered and Remus felt a chill enter the room. She was staring at him again and he needed to think of something to say quickly. He felt the chill stop tickling his lower back and felt a sudden wave of heat overcome him. All the while, she was staring intently at the closet door. "Who is in there?"

"What?" Remus asked, perplexed. "Um... just me… and Sirius," he muttered, looking up at the ceiling. It was the most uncreative lie he had ever thought in his life. Thinking back, he had never been a good liar in the first place. Jackie knew this as well, so she knew that he was lying the instant he opened his mouth to speak. She glanced from her to Sirius who was biting his lip, to the closet door. "Yeah—Just Padfoot and I, right Sirius?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, absentmindedly staring at the ceiling.

Remus looked at him with an eyebrow raised and Jackie giggled. "Severus looks rather fine this evening, doesn't he?"

"Yeah—sure, good."

Remus snorted with all his might and Jackie giggled so much Remus doubted she could breathe. As soon as he realized what he had just said, he stared opened mouth at Remus and then, with a frown on his face, slowly got off the floor. The glint in his eye was enough to mark the sign for Remus to slowly back away, for you never use a Sirius Original on Sirius. Every year, on the eve before James' birthday, Sirius would turn to him, make sure he wasn't listening, then lean in close to him and repeat the words Remus had just repeated a millisecond ago, "Severus looks rather fine this evening, doesn't he?" James would look at him sourly for three hours after, but he enjoyed it secretly.

Sirius got up, gave him a dirty look, and turned to Jackie. "There's an eighteen year old Death Eater in our closet silenced by a silencing spell that caught him off guard. I've been in the closet for the past two weeks and I'm practically dying of hunger… May you kindly move so I may acquire a banana?"

Jackie chocked on what seemed to be air.

"That was graceful," Remus remarked as Sirius left the room. Jackie raised her eyebrows so high that if he were not thinking clearly he might have thought that they came in contact with the above ceiling. It was as if she was a mind-reader, because the moment Remus thought that her eyebrows resumed their usual position on her forehead. She, however, was looking slightly disappointed at the wall opposite her, right next to the doorway.

"Is what he says true, or is my boyfriend on drugs?"

"I've always been partial to thinking that Sirius was on drugs, but I'd have to say the first one."

"There is a death eater," she started, unable to blink, "In this closet?" Remus only provided a nod as he inclined his head towards the door of the closet. "In a silencing spell?" She asked again, slightly wary this time as her hands moved closer to where the closet door was, "Under a binding spell?" Remus nodded again, getting more apprehensive as the moments slipped by.

"Jolly good, eh?"

"Open the god damn door, Remus!"

"Probably a good idea," Remus remarked and opened the closet door, Jackie only a foot away from him. At this moment, Sirius came marching into the room, a banana in hand and was startled to see the eighteen year old boy sitting in the corner of the closet. His banana slipped out of his hand and he slowly began to breathe heavily.

"Here I was figuring it was dream," he murmured and promptly fainted.

"Bollocks," Remus replied, taking in the appearance of the rugged eighteen year old boy. He had short brown hair, an aristocratic presence and slightly dismantled teeth. He looked as though he was gritting his teeth behind the binding and silencing spell. That, of course, was impossible. The face could not make any movements under the body bind spell; it was third year magic that had stopped an eighteen year old trained Death Eater. That was the effect of the element of surprise.

"Who is he?"

"Jackie, can you get me a pint of the Memory Potion I have stored under my desk in the Kitchen?" Remus asked, pulling the now fainted body of his best friend further towards him. "Enervate," he muttered under his breath, and he promptly sat up straight, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and turned to Remus.

"It wasn't a dream?"

"Afraid not, Padfoot."

"You mean… he's really here?"

"Who is really here?"

"My nephew… that's Regulus' son."

* * *

Hogwarts

* * *

"Er--" Draco began, obviously trying hard to think of something to tell the strict looking Transfiguration teacher that was now hovering over them. "Fancy seeing you here, Professor," he said, and tried his hardest to put on one of his most charming smiles. This act, however, only made her angrier. The stern professor looked from Harry who was trying hard not to be seen, to Ron who was feeling more and more apprehensive by the second, to Maya who was holding Hermione upright, to Hermione who was unconscious in Maya's arms and then back to Draco.

"What a—odd scene you seem to be organizing, Mr. Malfoy."

"I'm known for my creativity, ma'am."

"I don't want any lip from you, Malfoy!" She seemed to mean business with her pursed lips, stable posture and hard glare. Draco could tell, and just from the icy glare she had sent him he felt the shivers raise up his spine as though spreading around his body like wildfire. McGonagall took her icy glare from him to Maya, who was now shivering as well, "Ms. Elad, why is Ms. Granger unconscious?"

Maya was too shocked to speak. Harry lifted his head to speak, but he was beat by Ron. "I think that we should see Professor Dumbledore, ma'am."

"Fine," she barked, and Draco felt a wave of relief pass over him. He could see, out of the corner of his eye, that Ron was relaxing slightly, his breath becoming slightly lighter than before. He looked to Harry, who still looked as though breathing was a problem. Maya looked relieved that McGonagall had put Hermione into a hovering charm. He could feel sympathy running through his veins; however small she was, caring any person on his back for several miles was not an event he wanted to partake in either. "Cockroach Clusters," she announced in the same icy tone she had used earlier and ushered them inside.

"Ah," Professor Dumbledore exclaimed, hands stroking the majestic phoenix that graced the left side of his overly large office. "May I enquire as what you have found these students doing, after curfew—at," he started, glanced at what looked like a clock on the above wall with no hands, "ten minutes past midnight?"

Draco looked so confused he thought he might not regain his balance. He looked again and confirmed that there were no hands on the clock. Ron and Harry seemed to be thinking the same thing, but Maya seemed to spacing out into thin air. Hermione might know how he knew what time it is was, but she was unconscious. That didn't help them much. "A matter for another time," Dumbledore informed them, as though he was reading their minds. Draco and Harry seemed less than surprised for they already knew that Dumbledore could read minds, but Ron was staring at him with intense disbelief.

"Minerva, if you would be so kind as to escort Ms. Granger to the hospital wing…"

McGonagall left without another word, and Dumbledore turned his head on the four remaining students, cowering with fright. "You are not to tell a soul what happened tonight, or how you got past the wards at Malfoy Manor, yes?" Dumbledore asked, shocking the four helpless students. "I would advise the five of you—including Ms. Granger—to be extra careful for the remainder of the year. Good night."

After they were beckoned out of his office, they were startled. "Did that make sense to you?" Ron asked Draco and Harry as they headed back up to Gryffindor tower. "What does he mean: being extra careful for the remainder of the year?"

"Do you think he knows?" Harry asked Draco, with a sudden shock and pang of anger in his stomach.

"No—not that Qurill is hiding Voldemort under his turban, but he might know that Voldemort will try to steal it—he did put it in Hogwarts so he knows it's here…"

By the time they got back to Gryffindor tower, everything was in the same place they had left it. With a sharp look towards Ron and Harry, Draco retreated back to the Gryffindor boy's room. Harry turned to Ron, bid him goodnight and stayed behind in the common. This was going to be the one chance he had to talk to Maya again, and he wasn't going to blow it. He walked over to her as she was sitting on the couch, reading some book that Hermione had lent her.

"Maya, I need to--"

"I found it Harry--" she responded with a weary eye, "and you're not going to like it."

* * *

Black Manor

* * *

"Sirius… that's not possible."

"Anything is possible if you believe…"

"Now is so not the time for that, Sirius!" Remus barked at him, swallowing every word that came through his friend's mouth. "Regulus' son? That's impossible, is it not? You are, as of now, thirty two, and your brother, if he were not dead, would be thirty one. If this boy is eighteen years old, your brother had a kid when he was thirteen!"

"You're right, as of usual, Moony. My brother did not have a child at thirteen; he had an intended incident with time-travel, much like you, Draco and Harry have been doing quite a bit of."

After that snaky comment, Remus refused to look up.

"There are several types of Time Potions Remus, some that you might have never heard of before in your life. They are advanced dark magic curses and are seldom used by wizards and witches anymore. The one that Regulus used is one that you did not use—it allows the drinker to inhabit the same body he currently has. Which means, Regulus went back in time, had a child at the age of mentally and physically eighteen and brought the child back to the current time."

"So… who is his mother?"

"A hard question to answer, Remus. You see—The Blacks are indirectly related to the Slytherin line… so, Voldemort figured that if he could make a child with the blood from not one, but two influential founders he could make the ultimate weapon for himself--"

"Who--"

"Rowena Ravenclaw herself," Sirius head, letting his head hang low.

Neither of them noticed that Jackie had been there the entire time, her head inclined slightly as she heard the devastating news. "So…" she asked, taking it in like a child would take in candy, "this boy is the child of Regulus Black and Rowena Ravenclaw… and so he should be very powerful right?"

"On top of that, he has also been given Draco's job."

"What's that?"

"To capture Harry Potter."

They were all silent for a few moments. Remus was processing everything in his head slowly. "That must be why Regulus turned on him and hid his own Horcrux against him—because Voldemort wanted to take his son away and Regulus wouldn't stand for that. He probably fell in love with Rowena non-intentionally and then was heartbroken when Voldemort wanted to hide his child from him. So, the only smart thing he could do would be to bring Voldemort down with him--"

"What's a Horcrux?"

"I'll tell you later--"

"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound pleasant."

Remus nodded. "It isn't," he said, forgetting about the boy still locked in the corner, "Disregarding the fear of sounding repetitive: Bollocks."

* * *

Hogwarts

* * *

(I was planning on leaving it there, but here's a treat for the Dramione fans)

"Draco," Hermione asked, pulling her chair closer to the fire. The light from the fire accented his eyes quite nicely as he sat there, his grey eyes frozen in the array of fire before him. Hermione stiffened, sat up straight and turned to look at him. "Look at me please," she asked, her breathing becoming more and more nervous with every passing moment. He didn't look at her.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, helplessly staring at the fire again. "I've never said I'm sorry to anyone before."

"Draco," she said, shaking her head, "You don't have to blame yourself. I forgive you."

"That's not enough," he muttered, still staring at the fire, "I have to forgive myself too." He didn't dare look at her concerned face, for he knew his knees would buckle. He couldn't have that. He had finally realized it… he needed to be friends with her. He needed her, but she was only eleven. He was just starting to realize that.

"Can we forget about this and be friends?"

"Yeah," he answered, the sweat from his forehead making him hot, "I can try to forget."

"Good," she said, and smiled. He didn't dare look at her smile, it would make him weak. God, this was going to be a hard next few years. She put her arm on his shoulder and he shivered, feeling as though all the memories of his father had never existed. _Stop, _he told himself, _STOP!_ Before he could say anything, she took her hand off him, and extended it to him. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger and I've never met you before and you've never met me in this life or in another… nice to meet you."

Draco smiled. "I'm Draco Malfoy, nice to meet you."

She smiled back and got up and walked straight to the staircase. "Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight," He said as she vanished out of sight. He knew he should be happy, she wanted to be his friend, but he couldn't ignore the pang of sadness that inhabited his stomach.

* * *

A/N: Please, please review! I want to know what you guys think. Especially the people who keep telling me the D/Hr romance is disgusting.

S.S.M.

Imakeeper: Mind telling me what was so wtf about it?

LandUnderwave: Yeah, I love doing that too. Thanks for reviewing!

ShiftShadow: Well, I'll try.

HoshiHikari: Well, that would be spoiling it for you my beloved reviewer!

Padfoot: Why thank you!

Luna Moonlight Fawn: you bet there will be sequels. This story will be first and second year and I have every bit of it planned out.


	17. A Soulful Diary

_Turn Back Time_

_Fanfic by S.S.M._

_Chapter Seventeen: A Soulful Diary_

* * *

The months passed by in a haze and none of the children really realized when it had started out like this. They weren't entirely sure when January had poured into February, or when February had turned into a nice, cool March breeze followed by March turning into a rainy haze of April and the only indicator of this happening was the dates of study that Hermione had planned out for them in accordance to their upcoming Finals, three months away. The date, Draco had checked this morning, was April 27th. It was a Tuesday, and a rainy and dreary one at that. The Weasley twins were planning their jokes in advance and older students were doing homework after a long and agonizing day of schoolwork. It had been a long day for Draco today, longer than any other, because today he had spent the entire day with a certain bushy-haired muggleborn girl. That in itself was a hardship for Draco. To see her bouncy personality to match her hair bouncing all over the place as they completed their Potions was a hard thing for Draco to will himself not to find oddly nice. Harry had been eyeing him from his cauldron with Neville Longbottom for the longest time, stealing glances inbetween new batches of Potions.

To say he was glad to almost be gone with this day would be an understatement. So, when he saw Harry running in to signal this day was not over as he had thought, he sighed and let out a breath of annoyance. Harry noticed and smirked with a single phrase, "Long day?" Before Draco could even nod his head in agreement, Harry was pulling him out of his red and gold armchair. Draco had no idea where he was being dragged to, but he shook Harry's grip on him off in a moment's notice as soon as they entered the Library.

"The Library?" Draco questioned with an eyebrow raised. "Has Hermione not put us through enough torture already with the Library, now you have to bring me here again? I'll tell you mate, this is hurting my pride." Harry took one swift glance and turned to the other way. Draco, refusing to believe that Harry wanted him to stay behind, followed his deranged friend into the Library. There, sitting at the table with an utmost air of importance was a large leather bound book, the aforementioned bushy haired bookworm toppling over it with a smile.

"Did I ever mention that I think I've read enough books in the past few months to feed a third world country," a voice came from behind them, dripping with every ounce of annoyance any human being could muster in that amount of time.

Draco, grinning, turned around to face the red-haired boy. "If you didn't, it's probably worth stating now," he added cheekily.

Ron smirked. "I think I've read enough books in the past few months to feed a third world country," he said, smiling dauntingly down at Hermione, his smile becoming increasingly larger as he spoke. There was a sudden movement behind a bookshelf, and all of them turned around. The thing is, this part of the Library had never been occupied besides by Hermione, who could have gotten an extra bed installed in the Library had she asked for it. Draco smirked slightly at the idea of Hermione and Madam Pince staying up for a study session, and he caught her looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Out of the dark and hollow space behind the bookcase, out came Maya. She was looking distinctly ruffled and she wasn't very surprised to see everyone there.

"I found it," she said, eyeing them all. Harry didn't even look up, he looked as though he was ashamed at what Maya was about to admit. Draco was startled that Harry looked in such a way, and Hermione looked the same. What was going on? He was at least happy to see that Ron's expression was similar of that he was wearing currently as well. Harry didn't look up, even when Maya had called his name. After a second, "Harry, can you hear me?" he looked up, looking everywhere but at Draco. Draco's eye twitched as he looked from Harry to Maya. They were hiding something, and he'd be damned if he didn't find out what it was. "Could all of you come here, please?"

Hermione obliged almost momentarily, but Draco and Ron both stood their ground with icy glares. "Pray tell why we should—when you two seem like your hiding something bigger than you should be--" he added, looking at them with a look of distaste in his eyes. Hermione looked at though she had taken one of Dumbledore's many Lemon Drop offers and swallowed it whole. They stared at each other for a long time and then, finally, Harry spoke.

"Eh—Ron? I found this—waiting for you this morning at breakfast… and we have a problem."

"What problem?"

Draco could tell this was not going to be good. For Harry had a note in his hand, to Ron, signed by none other than Ginny Weasley. He heard a distinct mumble from Ron and they were both seething anger at each other. "You read—you read my letter?" Everyone seemed to stop and Harry handed the letter to Ron. "What do you bloody well want me to do with it?" Ron yelled, anger seething through his teeth as he glared at Harry and the note in his left palm. He read it, in a whisper of panic,

_Dear Ron,_

_Sorry I haven't written, but I have been writing in my new diary. Mum bought it for me a few days ago. It says Tom Marvolo Riddle on the side, but I haven't a clue who that is. Who do you reckon he is, Ron? Do you know anything about him? I just write in the diary all the time, and I'm very lonely over here. But it seems weird—like the diary knows something. I've gone out shopping with Mum more times than I can count and I think she's bought all of Britain that we can pay for._

_Say hello to Fred and George… and well, Percy too,_

_Ginny_

"Ron, your sister is being possessed by Lord Voldemort--"

He could hear Hermione's noticeable flinch as he said the name.

He exchanged glances with Draco, and Draco looked as though he had swallowed a Lemon Drop much larger than the one that was done the throat of Hermione. Figuratively, of course. Draco now felt some kind of odd urge to have a Lemon Drop. He'd have to stop by the Headmaster's Office sometime in the next few days. Ron looked like he couldn't even breathe and was staring at Harry with such a livid expression that if Draco hadn't known better, he might have said he would have exploded. Hermione let out a squeak when she thought noone was watching and Maya watched with a sorrow expression.

"How the-the hell is this the way to treat you mate, Harry? Tell him his sister is being bloody controlled by You-Know-Who, and not have the decency to explain yourself! What kind of treatment you—you giving me Harry—what is this, Harry?"

"I'm concerned for you—and for her…"

"Right, because you're the bloody Boy-Who-Lived and you've been… er, well, fancying my sister…" he said, in a grimace that looked permanently attached to his face for the time being, "and you think you know her as well as I do--" he said, breaking off into a mumble of sorts, "You don't! You don't know who my sister is, how trusting she is Harry! For all you know—for all you know… Harry… she could die!"

Harry nodded his head in a deep regret. Ron looked ready to explode. Draco looked to him, and realized within a split second that this was not going to end well—his response was of course justified after all -- this was his sister, the one person that he cared for the most out of his family, and they all knew that. He had showed this when he knew that his sister and Harry were dating, and know that she was possibly going to be in a great deal of harm, it was much worse. His grimace became that of a confused expression but it did not stop him from turning around promptly on his heel and walking out. Noone knew what to say.

"We—have to talk about this…"

"Not here," Harry responded, the pained expression from a moment before gone, "Come on."

* * *

The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black

* * *

Sirius Black hadn't moved from his original position of the Kitchen Table in almost three hours, and it was beginning to reflect on his attitude towards his best friend and his girlfriend. The whole Horcrux idea was at the least extremely confusing. To split something as pure as your soul is known as treason, this is why the splitting of soul known as "making a Horcrux" is such a horrible and dark endeavor to partake in. That was all that Sirius had gotten from the lecture that Remus had given them. To him, a Horcrux seemed just the thing that Voldemort would want from immortality. After all, Voldemort hated to be dependant on anything, so he had a feeling he wanted the Horcrux so he could be only dependant on himself, for the Horcrux was a part of himself. So, in essence, he wouldn't be relying on anything except himself.

"If you think about it," Sirius voiced his opinion, "There is nothing that I wouldn't wager that Voldemort's top priority right now is to make sure he isn't dependant on anything other than himself, which is why-- other than the fact that it is the most pure Dark Magic you can achieve and says a lot about a wizards power—he is going for these horcruxes because he knows that he is being dependant on himself, because technically the Horcrux is just an imprint of his soul, an imprint of himself."

"Yeah," Remus agreed, "I see that as being a plus for Voldemort, but not a solid reason. He constantly wants power, and if he does not achieve so, he will try until he does. The thing you have to remember when dealing with this power-hungry a person is that they don't care the lengths they have to go to achieve such, which is why he is willing to becoming something—inhuman—to get what he wants. He is willing to give up everything true and pure about life—not that he really found anything about life pure in the first place—and become something that no other man is, as a price for immortality."

"Why would you do such a thing for immortality? Sure, death is scary, but why take it to such great lengths?"

Remus sighed. "Jackie, Voldemort is a killer. He will keep killing, and he always will, and he figures that he can use his killing to an advantage, by doing what he has always done, but at the time achieving something that no other man has ever done—and that in itself to him is the biggest achievement he can make. Voldemort does not figure himself normal, he figures himself anything but normal—for all he wants is to stand out, and he will do anything to do so—even risk life."

"His only worry however, is death, isn't it? Does he rank the achievement of being so high up over his fear of death? Voldemort has become immortal—not for the fun, obviously, because he is scared of death. Yes, we all know he is scared, and he has made everyone else fear him because of a fear he has. People are constantly afraid that he will come up and kill them if they even think about his name inside their heads, and he has conditioned his name into the fear of every wizard and witch in the community. All because of his personal fear."

"I don't think he cares how many people's dignity he takes down with him as he wins, Sirius. Voldemort is like a Dementor in a way. To quote Albus, 'They will not harm you if you do not cross their path, but forgiveness is not in the nature of a dementor. Do not give them any reason to harm you…' If you are standing in a room alone with Voldemort and he finds some way that you can be useful to him, he won't kill you. If you don't fit in with his plans, however, he will kill you instantly. Voldemort doesn't kill for fun or for sport… he kills to save himself, which in itself is a bit of irony."

* * *

Hogwarts

* * *

"How is this possible, Harry? Voldemort is currently, as we know, possessing Qurill. There is no way he could, one, posses Qurill, and be possessing Ginny through the book that we have no idea how even came into her possession in the first place. The first time around, my father gave Ginny the book, I know that. How could, never meeting my father, she have received the book in this time?" Draco asked, ignoring the staring he was receiving from Hermione.

"I don't think it matters how she got the book," Harry said, swallowing with difficulty, "The problem is that she still has it now. The reason for having the book is not half as important as what we do know—anything could happen to her. She could already be lying dead on the floor of her bedroom, but I doubt it. Riddle is possessing her to get to the Chamber, and he wouldn't kill her and become a solid human once again if he didn't open the Chamber and kill all the muggleborns—No offence, Hermione--"

"None taken," she replied, still not taking her eyes off Draco.

"As I was saying, he wants to show how great a wizard he thinks he is."

"He's obviously already showed people that--" Maya replied, not taking her eyes off the ground, unwilling to look up.

"He wants to win, and he will do anything to show his power. He believes he is inferior to all the muggleborns in the school and he is so arrogant about his power that he is going to flaunt that. He will do anything just for a bit of recognition—almost like a lost puppy longing for a rub on the stomach—however, I'm not exactly sure what kind of dog Voldemort would be—I'm sure it would be one of the ugliest dogs I've ever seen…"

He saw Draco snort with laughter from beside him. Maya was too busy looking at her shoes to laugh and Hermione was thinking only God knows what as she stared into space. "We need to find him—we need to find the diary."

"Is there any possibility you may have an ulterior motive to saving Ginny this time around, Harry?"

"I won't pretend that my previous relationship with her isn't going to influence how I handle the situation—but I'm going to try to make sure that it doesn't, for if it does, a hasty and foolish act from me could lead to not only her death, but many others. I saw her for two minutes and I thought I had a heart attack—I may not be able to push my feelings aside."

"You'd better try, Harry, for your sake and the rest of us."

Hermione only nodded and Maya gave them an acknowledgement as she raised her head. Harry almost raised his eyebrows when he saw Draco and Hermione both looking everywhere but at each other, and then he remembered that the love of his life was probably on the verge of dying. Well, this was the life of Harry James Potter. He'd gotten used to it.

End of Chapter Seventeen

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A/N: Please review! Thanks everyone for their reviews for last chapter! Let's scratch the 300 mark, how about it?

S.S.M.


	18. Distant Memories

_Author Note: I feel like I need to say a few things about this story. Firstly, I'm very glad at how fast this story took flight. With 269 reviews now, that in itself is amazing. 269? Quite a lot, right? Well, let me tell you a bigger number. 71,843. Do you know what that is? That is the number of hits that this story has received in the past year and half. Wow. Just say it with me. Wow. Repeat after me. Wow. Alright, enough of that. However, what is slightly aggravating is that 71, 843 and I barely got three reviews for the seventeenth chapter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was three. Not counting the ones from other chapters, however. Three? Really, guys? I've never been a good reviewer myself, but after this certain incident I've been trying to review ever story I read, but I sometimes forget. I get it, it's hard to remember, but please review! I understand if you don't, I do it too, but it would make me feel great. I'm not going to go all idiotic newbie and say I won't write if no one reviews, because I still will. I'd love for you to review, even if you just say: That was great or: That sucks. Just something. Sorry if I'm being a pest. Besides, 71, 843 is enough for me to celebrate about! cheers_

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Ron sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, head buried in a Transfiguration book and eyes drooping slightly every few seconds. Draco was sitting on the other side, both ignoring each other, and the air in the room was hot because of the hot late May sun. No other letters from Ginny had come in the past few weeks, but the presence around the five friends was just as strained as it was three weeks ago. Draco got up, Ron pretending not to notice, and walked over to the fire, only a few feet away from Ron. Ron noticeably stiffened, back still turned to Draco and heat rising in the back of his head, making the pain in his back swell more and the beating of his heart pound harder. Draco, noticing this, decided to declare he was going to go up to bed.

"I'll, eh, see you tomorrow."

Ron nodded, all the blood that had gone to his head simmering down to the rest of his body. At least he and Draco were talking, as Ron wasn't talking to either of the other three. Ron suspected that Harry knew that this would happen and wasn't as hurt as the other two were. Maya would glance at him with a longing glance, but he would ignore it. Ron felt as though he was ignoring her too much, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. He knew that she deserved it for what she had done, or at least that is what he told himself over and over again. He refused to believe that any one of them might actually have a point in trying to save his sister, and was being deciding stubborn. Ron felt the feeling of loneliness in the back of throat, but he pushed it out.

When Hermione entered the common room, Ron made every possible motion to make sure that she did not notice him. This however, was an impossible and doomed to fail mission, as the moment she entered, her eyes landed on Ron. Ron stiffened, back once again hot and sweaty. She made her way over to him, but he got up, glanced at the clock and avoided her gaze. She looked as though someone had just smacked her in head with a beater's bat, but she said nothing. Ron didn't notice as she left for the girl's dorm before retreating to his.

Slipping into the nice and warm sheets in his comfortable bed, he noted that Harry was once again absent. He had been making such observations for a while, since the fight, and he had noticed that every night this week Harry was absent until an hour after curfew. He never asked where he was going, even though he was itching to find out—and he didn't dare ask Draco—he kept his mouth firmly shut. He was afraid, had he said something, he would have ruined the at least civil relationship he had with Draco the past few weeks. He had mostly concentrated on his homework, and his teachers had noticed. They, however, were concerned for his social attitude rather than his academic. Ron could tell they were less than pleased with the way the five had broken down in the weeks before.

"Ron—could you turn the…"

"Light—right."

That was about the extent of their civil relationship, and it was driving Ron insane. He had barely had a conversation in a week and it was starting to make him slightly grumpy at the fact that the only person he talked to was himself. He needed to write Ginny, and he needed to talk to Harry. He needed to do a lot of things, but needing to do things and doing things were two totally different endeavors.

* * *

Harry sat in the dark, damp and foggy lit Library thirty minutes after curfew. Maya was beside him, lamp on her right and text on her left, neither of them speaking as she flipped through another page. She scratched her quill on the piece of parchment in front of her, and Harry felt once again slightly tired. The amount of work that he had put in to finding the meanings to the codes was more than he was willing to put into. They had both, together, figured out the mystery--which wasn't actually that much of a mystery--which was Blaise Zabini and Voldemort's conversation. Most of it had been extremely boring and not extremely important or consequential information, but they had gotten a few things from it.

For one, they had been able to get from it that Harry and Maya were both in a prophecy dealing with Voldemort, and that was the only clue they could really get out of the exchange. The only other useful thing that they know knew is that Voldemort possessed someone at Beauxbatons at some point during Harry's schooling, but he wasn't sure how. Maya stopped reading bolted up right and shoved a paper under Harry's nose. "Harry—look at this. It's--"

Harry, however, had already begun reading.

**Her name fit for a princess,**

**Her destiny lay in a different world**

Harry hesitated, looked up at her, and watched as her mouth opened slightly. They sat there for a few minutes, each staring into the eyes of the other waiting for one of them to speak. Maya hesitated, looked everywhere but at Harry and lifted her head slightly to see his face. He was pale and white, his green eyes huge and his eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. He looked to her, unable to speak. "I found it in the Book of--" she began, but cut herself off to breathe for a moment, "French Prophesied Future; it was in the Divination Restricted Section in the aisle towards the back--" she said, slowly deteriorating into nothing. Her voice quickly became only a mumble as she mumbled, "Well—technically it's the Livre de français a prophétisé l'Avenir…" She answered,

Harry wasn't listening. He glanced at the text, his mouth slightly open, his hands warm and his head splitting in two. "Is this it? Is… there more?"

Maya nodded. She held open the book and Harry glanced inside. For every line was in a different language, it looked quite out of place. The first line had been in English and the second in French, both of which Maya had transferred to the parchment, translating the French into a rough version of the English. The next line, Harry quickly realized, was in German. He glanced over it for a second, trying desperately to remember something from Primary School when they studied the basic principal of the German language. Vernon was German, so Harry had sometimes heard him helping Dudley with his homework. Harry sighed and struggled to concentrate. After a few minutes of silence, he had taken the line and translated it into English:

**Those who witnessed her birth see a problem**

Maya glanced up at him and smiled. They both looked at each other and Harry pointed out the first line. "Her name fit for a princess? Well, that obviously means that were talking about someone with a princess name, right?" Harry told her, his eyes wandering and head pounding. Maya looked up, glanced at the line beneath it and declared,

"I think it—might be my mother. Her name—Sara—it means princess. Which is odd enough, but I guess… seeing as this is a prophecy about the both of us and You-Know-Who, right?" They were now both distant for a few moments—pondering the contents, and then Maya spoke again. "If you look at the second line," she added, pointing one finger towards the second line lazily, "It says, 'Her destiny lay in a different world'. That sounds like my mother, if you'd believe it." Harry knew this was a sore topic for her, she had never been too keen on telling anyone her history before, and was a generally shy person. She bit the tops of her nail nervously and Harry chuckled a bit before explaining,

"Those who witnessed her birth see a problem…" He declared, once again, his eyes never leaving the parchment. Maya sighed, picked up another heavy book from the table and they both heard a rustling sound from the other side of the Library. They turned, looked up and were now staring into the eyes of the very angry librarian, Irma Pince. Maya shivered and they both stood there, waiting for her response. Instead of what they expected to be a verbal bashing, she looked at them with an eyebrow raised and a stern expression that reminded them both vaguely of Hermione.

"Detention," she replied icily. "Off to bed, both of you! I don't want to see one book out of place…"

Harry, a grim expression on his face, did as he was told. They were so close to solving something, and now they had been cut off from the reality that was Voldemort's plan, and they didn't know when the next time they would be able to re-open the possibility would be. They turned to leave, a sense of dread and hopelessness filling their hearts as they cleared their schedules for the 25th of May, the detention.

When they entered the hall, Harry abruptly turned around because he heard a noise. The noise was coming from the farthest end of the South Wing Hallway, adjacent from the one they were in now. Harry, now several feet behind Maya, who hadn't noticed a thing, felt something icy creep up his spine. He turned around again, this time with a pained expression on his face but Maya kept walking. She was now a good fifteen feet in front of him when the next time he turned around, all he saw was blackness. He promptly fell to the ground and lost consciousness as soon as heard Maya yell, "Harry!"

* * *

Hermione sat on her bed, an incessant banging pounding in her head as she pondered the ingredients in a Dreamless Sleep Potion. The differences between a liquid state of the potion and solid state were somewhere in her head, but calling them down for use was much different. She had never had this much trouble concentrating on homework… ever. She sat up straight, tried to recall something Snape had said in class, but her mind was completely blank. Saving her the trouble of having to bang her head against a huge pole several times, she was distracted by Maya running into the dorm.

"Harry… corridor… detention… stunner curse… passed out…"

That was all Hermione heard before Maya burst out of the room in a panic. Hermione, throat closing and breaths becoming shorter gasped. She sprang out of her bed, hitting her foot on the stool next to it the process. Forgetting about the pain, she moved her way into the common where Maya, Ron and Draco flew from the boy's staircase, the place where they had just been an empty space of blurriness. Hermione shook her head, rubbed her eyes and followed them out into the cold corridor, headed for the Hospital Wing.

"Wha'cha think you little worms are doing, eh?"

They turned around and faced Filch. Hermione let out a slight irritated sigh, Ron looked tense and Maya turned to him, face red and breath raspy. "We're headed to the Hospital Wing, Filch. Harry--"

"Ah… Potter."

"Yes—he…" Hermione answered, Maya failing to open her mouth again.

"Get back to your common rooms and stay there you big bunch of misfits—go, now—and that's another detention you've just racked up—all four of you…" he said, trailing off with something that sounded oddly like a few curse words. They didn't move, however. The four stood there ground, feet planted firmly on the ground, looking far more confident than any of them felt. Filch narrowed his eyes, stared down and licked his lips. "What are you waiting for?" Ron noticeably flinched, but none of them left the corridor. "You little rats--"

"That will be enough, Argus." The voice was coming from the darkness of the corridor, appearing from the shadows. Dumbledore stepped out into the clearing between Filch and students, beard looking slightly tattered and eyes tired, but full of knowledge. "I do think it is best we don't intrude on Argus' very prudent time, should we children?" While he was trying to be funny, not even Ron laughed. Dumbledore raised one white eyebrow, glanced at the children and then to Argus and bid him farewell. "The detention is no longer necessary, Argus. I do however, thank you for your concern."

Filch walked away mumbling some incoherent words about the rubbish of his so called _concern. _Draco turned, faced Dumbledore and whispered words that made Hermione shudder,

"Can we see him Headmaster?"

* * *

Harry could hear the still voices against his flat and aching ears, but he couldn't move. There was a barrier stopping him for making an interaction and he tried to move his lips, whisper, anything. He could feel the tension in the room, but he couldn't break it. How he longed to break that tension, to speak, to do anything but lie on the bed, motionless. He felt as though death would be more suitable than having his eyes wide open, staring into the eyes of his friends, his ears perked and ready, hearing their every word and unable to respond. He felt as though his body had come crashing down, a broken system of wires crossed together creating a fuse that was about to electrocute him, but it was taking it's bloody well damn time.

"Is he—alive?" He heard Hermione ask, obviously dreading the answer. He was dreading the worst too. He knew he wasn't dead, obviously, but what if they thought he was? Would they bury him alive? He flinched at the very thought of what it felt like to buried alive. Knowing that he was alive and trying to wave his arms around frantically while they buried him. He was flinching on the inside—because on the outside he was stiff as a rock—and he felt like crying. After the terrible silence he felt across the room had grown deeper, Madam Pomphrey spoke.

"Yes," she answered, and he could see the pleasure and relief across everyone's face. He, however, was smart enough to realize what was coming next. She opened her mouth to speak, a horrible expression on her face and uttered the words, "For now…" Harry felt as though he had been stabbed several times with the sharpest knife one would find… then exposed to the Cruciatus… then thrown against a wall. He knew however, he wasn't feeling any of these feelings. Was this how it felt to know you were about to die? Was this what he had made Voldemort feel only several months before, and how Voldemort had made so many others feel before? It was sickening feeling, and he would do everything in his power to stop anyone from feeling this… ever.

"How long?" Draco asked, his voice sounding cold and distant.

"A few hours… six, seven maybe..."

"Six?" Ron echoed, terrified.

He realized he couldn't save anyone from feeling this again. He couldn't. Why? He was doing everything in his power to wave his hands… to say something… to say anything. No one heard him. He had failed. He had lost. A curse from a student in a hallway had been his death when Voldemort couldn't. He felt a swell in his throat, glad that he could feel something. He couldn't save them. Why? He had to admit it to himself.

_He was dying._

In a Hospital Wing; he had never expected this, truly.

"Is there anything—anything?" Maya asked, finally regaining the ability to talk.

Harry ears perked—or at least they did in his mind—and he held onto the last piece of hope he had.

"Well--"

* * *

I love cliffhangers. They are my best friends. Do you like them too? Didn't think so.

The more people review, the more motivation I get to write the next chapter.

S.S.M.


	19. Involved In You: Part 1

**Involved In You: Part 1**

_Chapter 19 of Turn Back Time_

_A Story by_ **Seriously Sirius Marauder**

* * *

"It was a complex procedure used in the early days of magic, but is scarcely known about today. The simple act of the spell could send the most powerful wizard into a coma or eventual death. There are cautions to be worried about and specifications to be met. The specifications are not easily met and the spell itself could very well not only inflict damage on the caster, but the accomplices as well. The specifications include a similar magic level, magical aura level and other things such as blood type, age and acknowledgment. With the specifications and the fact that is a major risk to the caster, it has only been recorded to have been cast a total of four times since it's making. Twice, it was fully successful, once the caster died and the dying lived and once they both died. Seeing as none of you would have a strong enough magical core…"

"Who says?" Draco asked warily, his whole body shaking.

"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Who is telling me I don't have a strong enough core to do the magic? I have gone through hell and back to get where I am right now I don't want anyone to tell me I can't save Harry. Magical Level; how do you find that out? I have the raw power to do such a spell, I know I do. Harry and I have the same blood type and you don't have to know how I know that. We are the same age and well… I'm willing to take the risk."

Everyone gaped at him. "How… how could an eleven year old possibly have enough raw power to do this complicated a spell, Mr. Malfoy? I'm afraid I can't let you go through with this."

He laughed bitterly. Before he could answer her however, another voice came from behind him. "The raw power Mr. Malfoy possesses is quite a lot, Madam Pomphrey. Yes, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore commented, upon seeing Draco's shocked face, "I know all about this. I know exactly where you and Mr. Potter have come from and that you happen to have all the necessary terms and specifications. The nature of this spell is an old magic that came to play long before I was born roughly a hundred and fifty years ago. The only spell or wound that this is immune to is the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. There is no way to block the death that comes from the Killing Curse. This alone is why Voldemort uses it so often. Within a span of forty-eight hours of wound or curse the spell may be used to save a life."

"Albus," Pomphrey replied quietly, "you can't possibly…"

"No," Albus replied, "I can."

Everyone was shocked. Everyone but Dumbledore was staring at Draco, eyes wide. Draco felt as though he was being gawked at and quickly sharpened his glare. The three students looked away from him momentarily but Madam Pomphrey continued to gawk at him. "Are you quite done?" He asked, a sharp pain searing through his head. She nodded but never looked up at him. Draco looked towards Dumbledore, an expression of concern written on his face. "How…" he began, and swallowed once to allow him the time to collect himself again, "Will we do this?"

"The most important detail of the spell is that there must be a good connection between the caster and the wounded. The reason for this, is the caster must be able to make a suitable amount of memories that the caster and the wounded share. You must also be willing to allow the wounded to see memories of yourself that they have never seen before. The spell also can not happen without at least two companions. The companions have no say in the memories they are watching but have to accompany the caster to the depths of the memories and to provide more magical power. While the companions do not have to have a complex relationship with the wounded, they must be familiar. The spell is difficult and the results, if gone wrong, can be detrimental and disastrous. However… this may be Mr. Potter's only choice."

"Then there's no arguing, is there?" Draco asked, looking fairly confident. There was no one looking at him this time as they were all standing around Harry, looking down at him. There was a silence, and then Ron approached Draco, hand forward. Draco arched an eyebrow but Ron merely shrugged in response. The two shook hands and smiled slightly anxious.

"I'm going with you," he answered. "To find Harry; as a companion or accomplice or whatever they called it. I know I've been in—can you say a slight disagreement and not lie?—with him and I'm not just going to let him die—not without trying my damn hardest to get him back." Draco looked at the Weasley boy and found a slight admiration towards him. He had always thought that Gryffindors had acted rash and hasty, but now he saw that Ron was displaying more courage and bravery than he was rash or haste. However, rash or hasty thinking was slightly inevitable in this situation. He nodded and Ron went back to Harry' side.

"Well, so am I." The voice had come from the other side of the room and Maya stood there, smiling slightly while grabbing Harry's bedside. "You thought you'd leave me out of this?" She asked, frowning a bit before approaching him again. "You thought wrong, Mr. Malfoy." She stepped out of the foggy lit archway and stared straight at him. "I'm coming with you, and I want no excuses to the contrary."

Draco glanced up, avoiding Hermione's glance and hid a smile behind his anxiety. "Well—that's that…"

"That's that?" Hermione asked, looking up from her position next to Harry. "That's it, isn't it? You've got your brave warriors and now you're all set to leave. I don't think so. You forgot someone and that someone isn't going to let you save Harry without taking her along. Do you understand?" She asked, eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips. Draco surveyed her and let out a bark like laugh. He turned to Professor McGonagall on his left and smirked.

"You're so right, Hermione. I'm sorry I didn't think of it first. Minerva, would you like to accompany me into the depths of Harry's mind?" He asked, a smirk gracing his face. Hermione looked murderous as she slapped his arm a little too hard. He yipped in surprise. "Damn girl, you can hit. I should have learned my lesson by now after a certain incident but…" Draco trailed off, not noticing the others looks.

"Incident?" She asked, eyebrow dropped and hands dropped to her side, curious. He quickly went totally white and cursed himself for saying something. "What incident?" She asked, and upon seeing his face realized what that he was speaking of the future. Not wanting anything to be talked about in this scenario, she dropped it quickly. "Forget it. Anyways, I'm going with you. Don't you dare try to stop me; I hope you understand, right?" She looked dreadfully scary when she determined.

"Now I see why you were a Gryffindor: deadly brave and stubborn." This earned him a smack. Hermione went red immediately after she smacked him on the arm however. "Now… Headmaster? Do you have any suggestions before we…?" Draco asked, his voice now ridden of sarcasm. Hermione noticed this and decided to cease teasing him at once. Dumbledore looked up with a sad face, nodded, and pulled him aside from the group. They both sat in silence before Dumbledore broke it, a calming look gracing his face.

"The spell is an old Latin spell considered somewhat of a form of reading minds. However, this time you can not block a simple spell with Occlumency. There is no way that the wounded may have any control over the memories you enter or the memories he/she enters. In that case, Harry's mind will pick for him the memories he displays, however he will have no say in them. The mind will take the most interesting and useful memories from inside the brain. While you have some say over what you put, you should have most of your brain figure it out for itself. The incantation is '_Prosperitas monumentum_' and you have to think of the happiest memory in your life or it won't work. Quite like the Patronus spell, if I am correct." Albus nodded at Draco and left the room into the Hospital Wing. Draco shivered for a moment but followed him after he took some deep breaths.

"Gather in a formation please," Dumbledore announced and they all did so, holding hands around Harry's limp and still body. Draco gulped and Dumbledore nodded towards him. Holding out his wand with a panicked look on his face he muttered something under his breath. None of the others in the room caught what he had said, but he waved his hand in frustration. This however, led to silence. He concentrated on the happiest memory he could conjure. He was in the small coffee shop with Hermione and he was breathing in the nice autumn air around them. He was watching her drink coffee, very much alive, and laughing at something that he had said. He never told Harry. He didn't concentrate on that. He narrowed in on the sound of her laughter… on the beat it made his play to. He focused on her smile… how she made him feel. Finally, he pointed his wand at Harry's scar.

"_Prosperitas Monumentum!"_

All in one second, a white light gulped them all up. Dumbledore stood there afterward smiling as Poppy shot him a disapproving look. He smiled and she walked away. At the door she turned to speak to him, but he had gone. She shook her head. _That man is too much._

* * *

"Where are we?"

"Let me look around," Draco answered as he pretended like he was searching for something, "Bright light; emptiness and more emptiness. Seems like the only thing for miles is bright light and the only thing I can see if the three of you." He pretended like he was thinking. "I'm presuming we're in Harry's brain." He answered, wearing a smirk. He thought this was quite funny but Hermione just proceeded to swat him on the arm again. He noticed Ron grinning behind him.

"Seems a bit dull if you ask me," he answered, trying to hide a smile.

"Gets a bit lonely, sure." The four turned around the see Harry, standing there, a bright light around the center of his body. He was glowing as he turned to face them. He had a huge grin on his face but he frowned slightly when he looked around. Then he noticed that something was changing. The whole room suddenly became something else… another scene entirely. They were all seated in what seemed like Charms Class and they were all sitting in the back apparently unseen by everyone else. Maya looked shocked and Hermione looked as though she had just eaten something that didn't comply well with her. Ron went white and Harry was calm. Draco looked around with a pleased look on his face. He turned to Harry.

"First Year Charms Class?" Draco asked a bit hurriedly. "Why?"

"You heard Dumbledore. I don't choose them."

"You heard him? I thought you were…"

"We'll talk about it later. Pay attention; my brain seems to think this is important."

They both stopped talking. They guessed that the other three hadn't even noticed the momentary conversing between Draco and Harry anyway. Ron was too busy staring at the other Ron, Hermione was staring intently at herself as well and Maya was in a daze. They tried to pay attention to Flitwick, but Harry immediately recognized something a bit more important. They turned to see Ron trying to do the Levitation spell and failing miserably as Hermione tried to help him. Hermione stared transfixed at the picture in front of her, heart beating way too fast.

"This…" she said hastily, "never happened."

"Of course it didn't," Harry answered nonchalantly, "It never happened to you. It happened to me."

Hermione just stared.

"No," the other Hermione scolded Ron as if talking to a three year old. "You don't do it like that. Besides, you're pronouncing it wrong. It's Levi-O-sa, not Levio-SA. Honestly, you should just apply yourself more and maybe you'd figure it out." As soon as she said this, the invisible Hermione just gaped in shock and felt herself go as red as Ron's hair. The others briefly noticed this and Maya giggled while Draco smirked and Harry and Ron both smiled. She pointed from herself to the other Hermione in a confused expression and managed to get herself even more confused.

"Fine; if you're so smart, you do it." No one noticed Ron until he had spoken. Ron stared transfixed just as Hermione had a moment before. Hermione giggled this time, glad it was not happening to her. She only had a moment of relaxation however, since the other Hermione suddenly smirked. The smirk was something that would have made Draco proud, and she could see him in the right corner of her eye. He was staring at the other her with a small smile. She wondered what he could possibly have to smile about. However, he was in such a daze that he didn't notice when she called his attention.

"Draco?" She asked, rather loudly. She wanted to be able to talk over the class, which they could hear but the class could not hear the quartet. She tried to grab him to get his attention, but he was still in a daze. She shook him harder this time, but he still didn't move. "DRACO!" This got his attention as he immediately spun around so fast she thought he might fall. "I—just wanted to tell you that were staring."

"Staring?" He asked weakly.

"At me," she offered. "Well—me, yes—the other me—technically, it is me. This is confusing." She looked into his eyes and she saw him offer a small smile. Before they could turn there attention to the picture once again, it moved. They all felt it move and Hermione was still in a daze about seeing herself. If she was in a daze of seeing herself as she looked now, she was going to have a heart attack in a few moments. Yes, heart attack was something like she had.

"Apparently, my brain cares not to be nice and organized to go in order," Harry mused. Draco grinned. He knew what memory was coming up. He had picked it special because he wanted to creep Hermione out with only time she hadn't acted like Hermione. He nudged Harry and whispered something in his ear. Harry grinned from ear to ear and then frowned. He didn't whisper this time. "Are you sure you aren't going to give her a heart attack?" Harry asked. Immediately, all three heads snapped up at this. Hermione asked first.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your apparent love for Qudditch players."

"What?" Hermione asked, completely confused.

"Just watch."

Hermione gave him a glare, but watched as the scene folded in front of her. They were in the Great Hall now, at which time zone she did not know. She spotted Harry at the Gryffindor table—or she thought it was Harry—it didn't look like him at all. However, she knew that it was many years later. Her heart missed a beat. If Harry looked different, did she too? Did Ron? Would she recognize herself? She gave a gulp as she stared at Harry conversing with Parvati. Suddenly, there was a poke on her arm. She looked up to see Draco.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"Turn around."

So she did. When she did, she thought she had a heart attack. It was her. She defiantly looked different but she could tell it was her. She didn't know how, though. Studying her older self, she found some things that made her happy. For one, her teeth weren't as large. To why, she was stumped. She would ask Harry if he knew anything about that later. The other thing was that her hair wasn't half as bushy—but it still was, to her disappointment. The one thing that shocked her was that the older her was much more confident—she could tell—than she had ever pretended to be.

"Oh, hi Hermione," she heard Parvati exclaim. She knew that the boys couldn't detect it, but she could hear the loathing in her voice. She noticed from Maya's expression that she had as well. She briefly wondered why but put it aside for the moment.

"Hi Parvati!" As she exclaimed this, it was obvious to Hermione that both girls were being obviously nasty to each other in there own way. Draco was smirking behind her. This was his memory, wasn't it? Then where was he? She glanced around the hall to the Slytherin table and found him. She noticed he was following her every move with an awed stare and she shivered nervously. How long had he liked her and she hadn't known about it? "Are you going to Slughorn's party tonight?"

"No invite," the girl told her sadly, but a small sparkle in her eyes she added, "I'd love to go, thought, it sounds like it's going to be really good… You're going, aren't you?" Parvati looked up at her with wide eyes and an eyebrow rose slightly. The other Hermione was completely non-fazed about the entire thing but it sent shivers up the real Hermione's back.

The other Hermione grinned and it made her feel uneasy. "Yes, I'm meeting Cormac at eight—we're--"

Suddenly, there was a loud noise. She turned to see what she thought was Ron drop something under the table and she frowned. Was he jealous? Of someone that was dating her? That seemed a foreign thought to her… someone that was dating her. It sounded weird. She knew that it made Ron uneasy as well as the real one was fidgeting with his robe.

"We're going up to the party together."

She stared. She—and someone else? She noticed that Draco at the other table was glaring at Parvati and Ron openly. Another black-haired boy patted him on the back and he abruptly turned around. Hermione turned at gave the real Draco a sharp look but he pointed back to the scene. Without speaking, they both turned back to the scene at hand.

"Cormac?" Parvati asked. "Cormac McLaggen, you mean?"

"That's right," the other Hermione replied, a little too sweetly to be real, "The one who _almost_ became Gryffindor Keeper." This statement made Hermione's eyes bulge. Was this what her future was? Why was Draco insisting on her seeing this? There was absolutely not point and it just made her and Ron feel more anxious about the situation.

"Are you going out with him?"

Hermione held her breath. The other Hermione smiled but she could see how nervous she really was. She didn't know if the others could, but she could read herself fairly well. Under all the confidence the girl in front of her was dead scared. Of what, she didn't know. "Oh yes—haven't you heard?" She asked, and attempted to giggle. Hermione didn't giggle often, so she knew very well that her older self was trying just a bit too hard to get the message across. Draco grinned from behind her and she felt like slapping him.

Suddenly, the scene changed. Harry walked over to Hermione and clapped her on the back. "Don't worry about it; Draco's an arse. He just wanted to scare you a little, trust me. You don't normally act like that; he just wanted to scare you around a bit. Want me to beat him up for you?" He smiled but she frowned and then burst into laughter upon seeing his face. Suddenly however, his face changed. He stood up straight and his muscles tightened. He looked chalk white and his legs collapsed under him. "No…" he whispered. "He—you can't see this."

"See this?" She asked, glancing at him. "See what?"

Draco was looking at him. He felt the inside of his stomach do somersaults. He couldn't tell him that he had known. He would never forgive him. He couldn't live with Draco knowing he had known. As soon as he thought this however, the scene began to play. He hid his eyes from Draco's view. Standing there, were the older versions of Harry and Ron trailing what looked like an older Hermione.

Real Hermione glanced at the screen and deducted this memory wasn't far from the previous one in the time scale. Her double entered a dark coffee shop and Harry and Ron followed her, now invisible. She sat down in a booth next to a blonde-haired young man and he smiled at her.

Draco felt like he couldn't breathe. He knew. Harry knew. Ron knew. They both knew. Harry had never told him that he knew. Draco only had one thought as he glared at Harry,

_He knew._

* * *

A/N: C'est Fini. I realize that some people may have thought it unimportant to mention the McLaggen scene but it will become slightly more important in the future with evolving Draco/Hermione relationship. Look for Part 2 of this chapter soon!

S.S.M.


	20. Involved In You: Part 2

_**Chapter Twenty**_

_**Involved In You: Part 2**_

**As you see here, this chapter and most of the rest of this story in reference to seventh year is going to be completely AU. So, no DH Spoilers!**

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Draco was glaring at him, Hermione was staring at the display with sunken eyes and Ron looked at Harry ever once in a while with a shocked expression. Harry knew every passing moment that Draco was feeling more betrayed as he watched the memory move further. Harry dug his hands into his pockets and he watched the rest of the memory, feeling utterly horrible. He inwardly cringed as the older version of Hermione tensed and grabbed Draco hands. The younger one however, paid no mind to the rest of them as she completely intent on following her elders every move. Maya looked towards Draco to Hermione with an eyebrow raised, but quickly turned her head when Draco noticed.

"How—is this happening, Draco?" The older Hermione asked, blissfully unaware that she was being watched by—herself—and her younger companions. Draco looked around the room to make sure no one was listening to them—little did he know—and turned back to her. His eyes were cold and empty, but he made an attempt at a smile. It failed miserably. "How can they do that…?"

"They're Death Eaters, Hermione. They'll do whatever they want, whenever they want. They'll collapse houses and ruin families. As long as they think they have justifiable reasons, they can and they will do just about whatever their master wants." He paused, a hair dropping in front of his face. "He wants to rule the world Hermione. He wants to get rid of you." He looked down at the floor, avoiding her gaze.

"What?" She asked, staring at him. "He wants… to get rid of me?" She asked, in apparent shock. She looked over to Draco with a questionable glance, but his face was parallel to the floor. "What does that mean, Draco?"

"It means…" Draco said, still not looking up from the floor, "That he believes you are a key reason to why Potter is still alive and walking around. He thinks that by taking you out… he's getting ahead of him. He has every man he's got trailing you for every hour of every day." He looked towards the wall in front of him now, still avoiding her gaze. "That's why I've been meeting with you. Hermione, I'm the one who is in charge of capturing you. I've been steering them the wrong way for weeks now. He trusts me more than he trusts anyone else in that regime."

She looked at him, a strange sense of cold overcoming the diner. The other occupants in the room fell completely silent and these words. The tension between Harry and Draco was actually becoming quite unbearable. Hermione was looking as though she was about to be sick. Harry was sure that it was a normal response, however, realizing that the most feared wizard is tracking your every move. Ron was a nice green color at seeing everyone's reactions and Maya's face was completely unresponsive. Draco looked ready to murder the next person who looked at him. The older Hermione was mirroring the younger one in expression and movement. The lack of movement was incredibly similar.

"You knew about this?" She asked, pushing the falling pieces of her brown hair away from her face. "How long has this been going on?"

Draco hung his head. She glared at him and he promptly looked back at her. The hurt in her eyes was very evident as the scene unfolded around them. The hurt in her eyes was very similar to the hurt that was now reaching Draco's eyes as he glared at Harry. He felt horrible for keeping his knowledge of this event a secret until now. He reasoned with himself that Draco had to suspect he had known about this act. How else did he possibly think that he would have known to trust him? Even though he was making a good argument with his conscience, it didn't make the hurt in Draco's eyes disappear.

The memory Draco had gritted his teeth and let out a very low, agitated growl, "A few weeks, possibly…"

"What was that, Draco?" The memory of Hermione asked. "Weeks?" She repeated, looking very scandalized by the very idea of Draco hiding this for weeks. There was a silence that swept the entire deserted diner and neither of them spoke. She grabbed the coat off the back of her chair and headed for the door, glaring at him on her way out. "Thank you for telling me, Draco. You can consider this conversation to be over. You can also consider our weekly meeting over as well."

"Hermione!" He yelled back, as she turned to face him. "Why can't you realize I did this to save you?"

"You did it to shelter me, didn't you?" She asked, eyes piercing into him. He looked defeated, cold and empty as she shouted at him. "Me? Hermione Granger, right? I can't handle myself, can I? Hermione, remember her? She was the girl who got the best grades than anyone in the entire damn school and knows more spells than half the Gryffindor House. She is the nineteen year old girl standing before you right now, but she can't handle herself. I understand." She took a deep breath. "I understand perfectly, Malfoy."

He withdrew a breath, dedicated to make sure she didn't find out how much that hurt. Hearing his surname escape her lips was a horrible feeling that made him shudder. He swore he saw a tear in her eye, but she would never admit it. She was much too strong a person. He knew that she could handle herself, but he had been overprotective. He was scared. He was never supposed to be scared. He was Draco Malfoy. Every day of his life he wished he wasn't.

The real Hermione and Draco were avoiding each other like the plague. Every time one had looked towards the other they had hastily turned away immediately. Harry couldn't look at Draco or Hermione. He couldn't even look at the looks he was getting from Maya and Ron. He also couldn't see the scene unfolding before him because it was too hard to relive this. He opted for simply staring at the wall in front of him in hopes that was just a really terrible nightmare. Yeah, like that was possible.

Hermione turned on her heel and left the coffee shop. Harry drew in a breath. He knew that this was the last time she had ever seen Draco or spoken to him. He knew the girl in front of him was going to die to weeks, one day and eleven hours after she left that coffee shop. Draco was right to protect her, but could he ever see that after Hermione had told him off for doing so.

"Hermione…" Draco muttered, a tear dropping from his eye discreetly. "I love you…"

The real Hermione looked over towards the real Draco and her eyes widened. Draco avoiding her gaze and was staring at his shoes. Harry was shocked. He had never heard that part of the memory before and he had never thought that Draco had actually loved her. He knew he had quite an infatuation for her, but love…

He never could have guessed. This could have not made the situation anymore awkward for Draco and Hermione know though. He couldn't even imagine what Hermione was feeling right now. If he was in this situation, he would have fainted already.

As soon as it had come, it was over. He couldn't stand the feeling that this had happened. They were back in the white halls of his inner mind, and no one was talking. Draco was shooting with him with horrible glares and Harry couldn't take it anymore. He was about to open his mouth when he realized he couldn't open his mouth anymore. As soon as he blinked again, he was in the Hospital Wing again and all the members of the room were sitting in different corners of the room, looking at one and other. He tried to sit up, and realized that he was completely sore.

"Mr. Potter!" Madame Pomphrey had obviously seen his attempt at movement. "I don't know…" she muttered, shaking her head, "How in the world you could have survived." It took him a moment to realize that Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found. He looked up at the Healer's worried eyes and swallowed before asking,

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" His voice was so raspy and small; he doubted it was actually his voice. He knew it was his voice though. Draco looked up once he talked, but said nothing. Maya didn't even look up, as she was too busy burying her head in her lap. He looked up at Pomphrey's worried gaze.

"You aren't going to like this, Potter."

"Are they alright?" He asked, his voice still paining him to speak. She nodded. "It seemed there was a side-effect to the spell we preformed. Seeing the memories of themselves in which they never partook in triggered something inside the memory portion of the brain. Somehow, all the memories of the world in which the memories originated have somehow found there way into the memory of both the students you are speaking of."

"They…" Harry stated, stuttering. "They—remember—everything… they are…"

"Don't get excited, Potter. It is something so complex neither I nor Professor Dumbledore completely understand. They are not the friends you remember, but they have their memories. They can access them at any point, but it more like watching a pensieve inside your head. They can also feel whatever there older self felt at the time and access information from what there older self knew. It is so complex I don't understand every quirk to it. They'll be fine in a couple of days. Overwhelmed, yes, but fine."

Maya had enough of this and had returned to her dorm to think about the previous actions of the night she had just endured. This left Draco and Harry in a room all by themselves. Draco had gone up to Harry and gritted his teeth. He felt the tension radiate off both of them.

"I never mentioned it because I thought you wouldn't be reminded of it, Draco."

"She died hating me, Harry," he muttered, becoming angry. "She died thinking that I thought she was incompetent fool. I thought she was amazing, and she never knew." His jaw was under so much pressure Harry thought that it might break at any moment. He tried to run over things to say to make him feel better, but ever one seemed completely obsolete. He settled on the truth.

"She died in love with a moron, Draco." He felt a small smile creep on his face. "She died loving you, you buffoon! She loved everything about you, even your name. Every time you were mentioned she would blush and change the conversation. I heard her--" he cut off, not wanting to hurt Draco.

"You heard what, Potter? Tell me, Harry."

"Four days before the final battle—four days before she died—she was talking in her sleep about how she only wished she could run her fingers through your hair one more time." Harry could feel a smile creep on his face but it vanished when he saw Draco's expression. It was suddenly very serious and dark.

"Are you lying to me?" He asked, gritting his teeth again.

"What would make you happier to hear me say?" Harry asked.

"The truth," he responded.

"She loved you, Draco. I do happen to believe that someday—someday when she realizes what she's missing—that her younger counterpart will feel the same way."

* * *

Sure it was short, but I thought it was quite powerful. It takes a whole new meaning to the D/Hr relationship, doesn't it? Not enough time for reviews (Since when do I have time) but I appreciate every single one and it makes me feel great hearing the great response that this story has gotten. I started this story almost two years ago next month and I'm glad with what it has become. I will be re-doing this story at some point in the future, but probably not until this story is over and third year begins. I still have second year to do in this story. I might put second year in a separate story, but I doubt it. 

S.S.M.


	21. Nearing The End

**Turn Back Time**

_**A Day in the Life of Draco Malfoy**_

_**An Interlude brought to you by:**_

_**Seriously Sirius Marauder**_

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"Can you tell me the exact date you wanted the party on, Mrs. Malfoy?" There was a blank feeling in Draco's mind, a hollow emptiness that he couldn't shake. Standing in the entrance hall, which he had believed to be destroyed by Arours, was his mother. The woman was an irritable gossiper, but she _had_ loved Draco. The problem was not that he felt regret over his mother's death, he had been anticipating it and came to terms with the tragedy he knew would come. His eyes widening every second, he realized the problem was his mother, as far as he knew, was dead.

"Do you have a preference, Draco?"

"What?" He asked, slightly caught of guard. His forehead felt a bit bothered, and he tried to crane his neck so he could see past the old decorator his mother had hired. His eyes gazed upon the old fireplace that was littered with old pictures of him and saw his mother, dressed in her expensive designer robes.

"Forgive my son Madam," Narcissa said with a cheery smile, "He's been a bit peaky these days…" her voice trailed off and the decorator had ignored the words on Draco anyway. "Would you like satin or silk?" She asked him, holding up two different fabrics and pushing them in Draco's hands.

"Would I like…" he trailed off, in deep thought. "For what, mother?" At least, he thought she was his mother. She sure looked like his mother, and she sounded like her as well. Again, however, the problem arose that he had seen his mother die. Yet, here she was, asking him which fabric he preferred. Suddenly, like a bullet soaring through the air, realization crossed through his face.

"_The Tempus charm…"_

"_There is another way…"_

That damn werewolf, it had worked! How… they had meddled with time. None of those horrible events had even happened yet. Looking down at his body he realized with a quiet yelp that he only stood at 4'10. Slightly patting his hair he realized with dread that it was slicked back and pulled his hand back with horror. He was eleven again… and his mother was planning his going away party.

"For your party, Draco; are you alright?"

This… can't be happening. She was looking at him with concern and the decorator simply looked bored. If he was going to change things around this time, he'd better start now.

"Silk," he answered with a certain confidence. "Silk."

"So it shall be," Narcissa beamed.

_Yes, _he decided, _this could work._

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Chapter Twenty-One 

**Nearing the End**

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"_Mr. Weasley…"_ He heard the voice, though he wasn't sure it were a figment of his imagination, _"Can you hear me?"_ That had already been established, yes, he heard the nagging voice in his ear. He opened his left eye with all the force he could muster, and saw the blinding white shudders gleaming from the Hospital Wing. He had been here far too much for a first year, and he would be quite glad to never come back.

"Mr. Weasley?" Someone asked from behind the sheet. He moved into the light and Ron shot out of the bed, ignoring the pain in his head. "How are you feeling?"

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," he answered, "Fine, thank you." Inside, he felt exactly the opposite. He was feeling things he had never felt before, and it was starting to really scare him. When he woke up, he felt a strong confidence that just radiated through him. He had never felt that self-assured before. It was an odd feeling, but an overall enthralling feeling as well. On top of that, he felt more tired than he had ever been.

"Good," Dumbledore answered, pausing at the foot of his bed. "If you don't mind then," he continued, pushing the curtain away and reaching into his left pocket, "I'd like to do a little experiment." He pulled out a wand that Ron then identified as his own. It was handed to him as he was urged to step up.

"Point your wand at the vase in the corner and say, 'Accio'," Dumbledore instructed with particular emphasis on the pronunciation of the spell. Ron gave him a questionable look, but he decided to try it. Pointing his wand at the vase, he felt a familiar tingling feeling in the tip of fingers and clamped the wood harder. "Go on," Dumbledore urged him.

"Accio!" He shouted and surprisingly, the blue and white checkered vase flew straight into his hands with a strong force. Startled, he dropped the vase and it shattered into pieces littering along the floor. Instead of the disappointed look he thought he would receive, Dumbledore was positively beaming as he waved his hand across the floor and the pieces sprang to life and shot up to his hands.

He was far too preoccupied with why he could produce the 'Accio' charm that he hadn't even noticed Dumbledore's effortless wandless magic. All the courage and confidence he had been feeling a moment before vanished in place of the confusion he was experiencing as he shook his head and stepped back. "How," he asked, forcing his eyes not to wander, "Did I do that?"

"If I am correct," Dumbledore mused, "the little adventure you and friends had this evening had a—side effect, yes?"

"Side-effect?" Ron asked. "Like—what?"

"The memories that you and Miss Granger partook in triggered something in your brains that… confused itself. You have a solid set of eleven years of memories centered in your mind, but then you encounter a memory you've never seen before. Because this phenomenon has, to my knowledge, never happened before, the results are thus. You have somehow obtained all the memories from your past selves… and as you have demonstrated… their power."

"So…" Ron trailed off, struggling to understand, "I can do just about anything my former self could do?"

"Technically, yes and no. You have the magical level and power of your counterpart, but you have to learn the spells. You can obtain any knowledge, facts and information that your counterpart knew and you'll feel the emotions in particular instances." He looked as though he were being pained to say this, "You'll be able to obtain your counterparts memories as well; they will be played in your mind as though they were pensives, however, they will not develop until your mind sorts them."

"I can see… anything?"

"Technically… yes, you can."

* * *

Harry had realized only within a second of leaving the Hospital Wing that something was amiss. He had so much happening, he hadn't stopped to think of Qurill at all. However, because of this ignorance, he was going to pay. Ron and Hermione were both still in the Hospital Wing so he couldn't exactly plan anything yet, but he noticed the wary Professor sneaking around late at night. He had confronted Draco about it, but the talk had been interrupted abruptly cut short. As he glanced at the calendar, the date was strikingly familiar. He realized with absolute dread it was the day that Qurill made his entrance into the trap door.

_May 24__th__, 1992. _It was an important day in history, as it declared the first time Harry had been able to stop Voldemort from regaining power. Sure, he wanted to change the outcome of the final battle but not in the favor of Voldemort. He had just made his decision to descend into the trap by himself, as he was sure to be able to do it, when there was a bang behind him. He spun around to find himself face to face with a sullen looking Ron. He was wearing a somber expression and said,

"We need to talk."

This could put his plans on hold.

"About?" Harry asked, dreading the answer. He knew exactly what the answer was going to be. He knew that Ron had come to talk about his sister, but Harry didn't think that he going to be able to handle a conversation like this yet. He had always been a bit of a procrastinator. "Is this about--"

"Yes, Harry," he answered, "It's about Ginny."

"So," Harry said, realizing now how awkward this was, "What about Ginny?"

"What about Ginny?" Ron asked. Harry suddenly how stupid that last comment was. "Is it that hard to figure out, Harry? I think it's pretty obvious what about. Apparently, my sister has been…" but he couldn't talk anymore. Where Harry had been just a moment ago was replaced by the scenery of a bathroom. There were voices coming from inside, and fairly hesitant, Ron stepped forward.

"_Oh, it's you," _**a ghost asked, sitting on the end of a toilet**_ "What do you want this time?"_

"_To ask how you died," _**he heard Harry say.**

"_Harry__**," **_**he heard his counterpart say,**_ "Say something. Something in Parsletonuge."_

**As time sped up, he saw Harry and Ginny marching out of the entrance together, beaming at each other. He saw the glint in Harry's eyes and the smile on his sister's face as they exited together. His counterpart didn't notice that they Ginny was gazing intently at her hero, Harry Potter. The other Ron pulled Lockhart up from his collar and watched as he opened one eye, squinting at Ron.**

"Ron?" Harry asked. "Are you alright?"

He opened his eyes and instead of the musty looking bathroom he was sitting back in the common room, Harry hovering over him. He took a deep breath and sat upward again, the beating of his heart spreading throughout his body. His hand was right beside his mouth, his mouth gnawing on his finger, an old habit he had never outgrown. "You were in love with her, weren't you?"

"I--"

"It's okay," Ron assured him. "I've got the slightest clue what love is but I've never seen two people look at each other that way before."

* * *

"You can go now, Miss. Granger."

"Thank you, Madam Pomphrey." After being interrogated and quizzed about what she remembered and what spells she could perform, she was more than ready to go straight to sleep. Forgetting her sleeping draught in the Hospital Wing however, she was forced to make a slight detour. Standing in the middle of the hallway leaning against the stair banister was Draco. He stepped up off the stairs and stood level with her; she could hear his steady breathing.

"Hey, Draco," she whispered, trying to push past him. The words had felt so foreign when she had said then, and she knew the friendship she shared with Draco was not only strained but more complex than she could imagine. She knew that she and Draco had shared something before… that much was obvious now… but she couldn't even wrap her mind around it.

"I never wanted you to see that, Hermione. You shouldn't have ever seen that."

"Did you want to hide it from me?"

"No, of course not; I never…"

Hermione couldn't hear him anymore. She wasn't in the corridor before the Hospital Wing anymore; she doubted she was even in Hogwarts. **She was in a park, from the looks of it, just before dark. There was a little boy playing on a seesaw and a little girl pouring sand all over the place. She found her counterpart sitting on a swing over towards the right as another figure approached.**

"**Hello, Hermione."**

"**Draco?" She asked, the swing next to her halting as he sat on it. "How did you find me here? I tried—I needed some time. Can't you see that?"**

"**Can't you see that I can't deal with that?"**

"**Why are you so impossible?" She asked, turning to walk away.**

"**Maybe…" he answered, grinning, "So are you."**

"Draco? Hermione?"

They both turned around so quickly that they collided with each other, Draco's elbow nudging Hermione's head and they both stood up, dizzy. Draco tried to straighten his vision but all he saw was a very blurred outline of Harry.

"It's Qurill," he answered solemnly, "It's tonight."

* * *


	22. Authors Note and Prequel Filler

Please note that this is not the next chapter of this story. It's just an important A/N and a little teaser/filler I added in for fun.

A/N: This is going to be a pretty long A/N, but keep with me here. I need to say something about this story that I've been writing for over three years. When I find myself going over the first few chapters of this story, I'm finding that time and time again I'm becoming very disappointed. This is not the best I can do, and I know it. I've been tentative to return to this story, because I don't know how to approach it. I know that the chapters have to be reviewed and changed—some more than others—but I realize this is not the best I can achieve with my work. I think my writing has progressed since I originally started this story—at least, I hope—that's for you to decide. But regardless, I wanted to leave this A/N to tell all of the fans of this story who think I'm giving up. Honestly, I may be giving up. But I haven't yet. I haven't written anything in over a year, and yet I still have visitors coming to my stories every day. I want to thank every one of you who are still reading this even when you know there's a hell of a good chance it'll never get finished. Now, I'm going to ask you to have some patience with me. I realize you all have an incredible amount of patience and I couldn't ask for more. You all are the best damn reviewers in the world.

I'd like to take a minute to talk about a review that was made by an anonymous reviewer named Lisa over a year ago. I have re-read this review a lot, and have found it very helpful while trying to mull over what I can rewrite and what I can't. I just wanted to thank her personally, because no one else has given me quite a review like that since I started writing. I have to say, I agree wholeheartedly with everything in that review and I'm intending to take of all it to heart. Now, I'm asking—no, pleading—for any criticism you have of my story. I'm not asking you to make up things that you think are wrong only to make me feel better—that's ridiculous—but I'm asking you to tell me what you don't like.

I don't want to be writing a story that I myself would probably leave a hefty dose of constructive criticism. I have an abundance of problems with this story, and no idea how to go about fixing them.

I'm trying, I really am. I just ask you for your opinions. Be as bitchy as you feel you need to be—I can take it.

And in return for your opinions, I will try as hard as I can to rectify the mistakes I've made in past chapters. I can't do it alone, though. I'm going to need all of you to help me. If it takes longer than I'd hoped to be able to rectify this story, than so be it. I will work as hard as I can, because I know you all deserve it after the way I've treated you all in the past year.

Well, that's it.

Enjoy the teaser/filler I've left for you.

**Ahead of My Time**

**Prequel to **_Turn Back Time_

***

"Damnit," Draco cursed and he stepped in some mud, his expensive shoes now covered in dirt from Muggle London. It was late now—somewhere around eleven—and the only thing keeping him from falling over were the dimly lit streetlamps located on every corner. He had managed to make himself look quite peculiar, dressed in all black with a hood low over his face. His wand was in his back pocket, gleaming under the overhead lights. He heard a voice behind him, and held his wand into the darkness. There was a chuckle and a beam headed straight at him. He dodged quickly and threw back another spell.

"Show yourself!" He ordered, his voice sounding muffled under the hood.

"Relax, Malfoy," the voice said and appeared from the shadows. "I'm not who you think I am." Red hair appeared in front of him and his face quickly came into the light. The familiar gaze and raised eyebrow in front of him forced his wand back to his side. The red head motioned towards the Leaky Cauldron, his footsteps trailing behind Draco as they walked. He noted that his amused familiar now had his wand poked in Draco's back. He spun back towards him and gave him a questionable look. "There always watching," he answered, smirking.

They walked straight into the Leaky Cauldron without looking at anyone. They continued to walk until they reached the back room of the pub—a room that they had requested for this very meeting; a place that was away from the eyes of the general public, which was just what they needed. They sat in silence—as if they were—waiting for someone. Draco turned his back against the wall and spoke without looking at him, "Where is he, Weasley?"

"He'll be here, Malfoy. He's—bringing someone."

"Bringing someone? That wasn't the agreement, Weasley."

They sat in silence again. He turned away from Weasley with a sneer and focused on the door. As if on cue, it opened with a load creak and two familiar figures walked in. The first one, the taller one, headed straight for the table but the shorter one leaned back a bit, hesitant. Draco narrowed his eyes at the display and looked at Weasley with his eyebrow raised.

They approached the table and the taller of the two addressed him. "Malfoy; glad to see you can keep appointments."

"Potter; glad you're no longer an egotistical, prejudiced git--" he said, and pretended to be thinking for a moment. "…Sorry, you still are, aren't you?"

"Take a look in the mirror, Malfoy," the other voice spoke. He immediately spun around the face the speaker—now identified as female—and instantly recognized the patronizing voice. He smirked as he pulled his hood down and stood up. He moved closer to her, noticing as she hesitantly stepped back.

"Granger," he addressed her, smirking, "How nice of you to join us."

"Bugger off, Malfoy."

"Get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, did you?"

She ignored him and took a seat opposite him, next to Ron. After they all sat down, Ron took a piece of parchment from his pocket and laid it out on the table. He saw Hermione give Weasley a quizzical look, but he noticed that Potter had missed it completely. He was staring out the window, the streetlights now dimmer than they were before. They would occasionally flicker in and out, but the darkness prevented him from seeing anything further than the phone booth on the other side of the street.

"We've got a plan, Malfoy," Ron said, as he leaned back in the chair.

"A plan?" Draco repeated. "Oh, fantastic Weasley. A plan is all we need to bring down the Dark Lord. It's not like we actually need any magical skills, because you clearly lack in that department."

"If you're going to be an ass Malfoy, you can leave. You are not required to be here."

"You really are a dip-shit, aren't you Potter?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm here because I'm trying to stop an evil Dark Lord from taking the lives of millions just like he tried to do with my mother. Look, we're not friends Potter. I'm not here because I want to save you from dying by Voldemort's hand—In fact, if he killed you that might be the only useful thing the bastard has ever done. Let's just get that perfectly clear right now, I could give a shit what happens to you and your--"

He tried to continue, but Granger cut him off halfway through, "Damnit, Malfoy; you're exactly the same as you were in school. You think that everything revolves around you—newsflash, it doesn't. Do you think we could give a shit what happens to you? We're working with you because we have a common goal, and if you aren't going to participate, you can leave."

At that moment, he realized that she had changed—the circumstances had changed. The most important thing wasn't a childhood rivalry—it was life or death. He knew that she was trying to take this seriously—so he should as well. It was that exact moment that he realized there might be something to Hermione Granger that he had never noticed before.

It was that moment that he realized he was intrigued by her. What he didn't realize was that this would cause something he wasn't ready for—something he had never experienced before.

"Fine Weasley, what's the plan?"

FIN


End file.
